Former England fast-bowler Stuart Broad has backed batter Ollie Pope to become England’s captain in the future, calling him a great leader. Pope took over the role of captain when Ben Stokes decided to sit out their two-day warm-up against New Zealand XI in Hamilton.
“I think Popey is a great leader,” Broad said. “He speaks really well in the group, he’s got a great cricket mind and there’s no doubt you can see him as a future England captain,” said Broad.
Speaking about his aspirations of becoming England’s captain in the future, Pope said there is no title to it but added that it is a good thing to be seen as a leader in the dressing room.
“For now there’s no title on it – I’m just going to keep helping out where I can. There’s no label on it, but it might be an option they are looking at in the future. It’s just good to be seen as a leader in that dressing room,” said Pope.
The 25-year-old said Stokes is the captain, and he, along with Brendon McCullum, have allowed the young players in the team to grow.
“Stokesy is the captain, he knows exactly how he wants to run it, but he comes up and bounces ideas off me sometimes, and he’ll do the same with some of the really experienced guys in the changing room too. McCullum and Stokesy have been great. They’ve allowed us young players to grow and I think each one of us feel like it’s our team now,” Pope added.
