BREAKING NEWS: England are dealt a major Ashes blow as vice-captain Ollie Pope is ruled out of the rest of the series after dislocating his right shoulder at Lord’s.
Ollie Pope injured his right shoulder during the second Ashes Test at Lord’sPope tried to fight back and batted in both innings, scoring 42 and three runsHowever, scans have revealed that the England vice-captain dislocated his shoulder
England vice-captain Ollie Pope has been ruled out of the rest of the Ashes after dislocating his right shoulder during the second match of the LV= International Series at Lord’s last week.
Pope injured his shoulder after landing awkwardly on the field when diving just after lunch on the first day.
He tried to fight back and batted in both innings, scoring 42 in the first and three in the second.
Pope was even strangely forced to bowl at the start of Australia’s second innings as officials warned him he could not bat higher than No.7, but aggravated the injury in the process.
Scans in London on Monday revealed the full extent of the injury and he will miss the rest of the summer campaign and require surgery, the ECB confirmed.
Ollie Pope has been ruled out of the rest of the Ashes after dislocating his right shoulder
The England vice-captain was injured on the first day when he landed awkwardly on the field.
Essex’s Dan Lawrence is the team’s back-up batsman and looks set to deputize for his future Surrey team-mate for the pivotal third Test against Australia in Leeds starting on Thursday.
Lawrence, who will join Surrey ahead of next season, has played 11 Tests in his career.
However, he has not featured since England’s dismal tour of the West Indies in March 2022, but is believed to be very fond of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
He averages 29 with the bat and has amassed four half-centuries, with his highest score being 91 against the West Indies in Barbados.
Lawrence, who was also the stand-in batsman for England’s tour of New Zealand in the winter, was in fine form in his final first-class match against Warwickshire last week, hitting an impressive 152 with a impressive strike rate of 65+.
Essex batsman Dan Lawrence (left) looks set to replace Pope for the third Test at Headingley
Lawrence has played 11 Tests for England, with a top score of 91 against the West Indies
The batsman has 491 runs at an average of 44.63 in six County Championship Division One matches this season.
Elsewhere, England are considering Moeen Ali’s withdrawal for the third Test at Headingley, while Mark Wood and Chris Woakes are also in the selection equation.
Legendary bowler James Anderson has struggled so far, picking up just three wickets at an average of 75.33, while one of Ollie Robinson or Stuart Broad could also be turned in after two hard-fought Tests that have spanned five days complete
Josh Tongue impressed at Lord’s after coming into the side with Wood not considered fully fit, picking up five wickets over the course of the game, but was also able to make his way at Leeds.
