Stokes gives strong backing to Pope as England's No. 3 batter for India series
LEEDS, England (AP) — Who to pick at No. 3 out of Ollie Pope and Jacob Bethell was widely regarded as England's biggest selection poser heading into the highly anticipated, five-match test series against India.
Turns out, it wasn't much of a headache for Ben Stokes.
'It would be remarkable to choose someone else if their last knock was 170,' the England captain said Thursday of the decision to keep faith with Pope after his big hundred in the one-off test against Zimbabwe last month.
The 21-year-old Bethell is the next big thing in English cricket, a rising star in all formats who made a strong start to his test career — in the No. 3 position — by scoring a half-century in each test of the three-match series against New Zealand over the winter.
However, Bethell didn't play against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge because he was finishing off a stint in the Indian Premier League. Pope did play and, batting at No. 3, made 171 for his third biggest test knock.
Pope is the team's vice captain and remains a trusted ally of Stokes, despite continued speculation over his place in the team.
'Having him at No. 3 and, since I've been captain over three years, averaging over 40. It speaks for itself, I think,' Stokes said.
'In this day and age, it's very tough to not see all the speculation and stuff around it, just because of how easily accessible things are. You don't even have to go hunt for it to see it these days. But I think scoring 170 in his last test match shows how well he's handled the extra scrutiny. It comes with the territory when you are an international player.'
___
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Florian Wirtz joins list of most expensive soccer signings in history
Florian Wirtz became one of the most expensive players in soccer history when the Germany playmaker joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen on Friday for a fee of up to 116 million pounds ($156 million). Neymar: $262 million (222 million euros) Advertisement Paris Saint-Germain shattered the world-record transfer fee by signing the Brazil superstar from Barcelona in August 2017. It was more than double the outlay of Manchester United to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus for $116 million a year earlier. It remains the record transfer fee. ___ Kylian Mbappé: $216 million (180 million euros) A few weeks after buying Neymar, PSG also secured a loan deal for Mbappé — then the rising star of French soccer playing for Monaco — that included the option to make the move permanent in 2018. PSG did so, making it an outlay of nearly $500 million on two players. ___ Philippe Coutinho: $192 million (160 million euros) Advertisement Flush with cash after selling Neymar a year earlier, Barcelona spent most of it in a deal to buy Brazil playmaker Coutinho from Liverpool for a Spanish record fee. ___ Moises Caicedo: $146 million (115 million pounds) The Ecuador midfielder's move was previously the most expensive deal by a British club, with Chelsea buying him from Brighton in August 2023. ___ João Félix: $140 million (126 million euros) Atletico Madrid triggered a buyout clause in Félix's contract to sign the Portugal forward from Benfica in August 2019. ___ Jude Bellingham: $139 million (128.5 million euros) The England star got his big move to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in June 2023, for an initial up-front fee of 103 million euros plus add-ons linked to performance. Advertisement ___ Antoine Griezmann: $134 million (120 million euros) Atletico could afford to sign Félix after selling France forward Griezmann to Barcelona for a similar fee a few weeks earlier. ___ Neymar: $98 million (90 million euros) Outside from Europe, the biggest transfer deal also involved Neymar when he joined Al Hilal, a team in the Saudi Pro League, from Paris Saint-Germain in August 2023. That came at the height of Saudi Arabia's push to sign high-end soccer talent to ignite the oil-rich state's domestic league. ___ AP soccer: Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Potential record deal puts Elliott's name back in the headlines as Albion are linked
Harvey Elliott, pictured with Yasin Ayari, could be on the move (Image: Simon Dack) Harvey Elliott's name is being linked with Albion again – after Liverpool clinched a record deal. The champions' move for Florian Wirtz will set them back an initial £100 million. That will become a British record £116 million if various clauses are met. Advertisement It also appears to affect Elliott's potential to play significant minutes for the Reds. Albion were believed to be interested in Elliott during the January transfer window and probably before that. That might at least partly explain why The Sun report him to be of interest to the Seagulls in the current window. He would command a sizeable fee and comes with some uncertainty over what he can produce in the Premier League on a consistent basis. But Elliott, who is currently with England under-21s at the Euros, has shown plenty of promise. He scored for Liverpool at the Amex towards the end of the season. Advertisement There is no suggestion that Albion have bid for Elliott but there is a theory the presence of his former Anfield mentor James Milner could help persuade the 22-year-old to move. Albion have an array of options in attacking midfield areas but plenty of outward activity is expected during the summer transfer window.
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Candidates Revealed For Cricket's All-Important Chief Executives' Committee Election
The CEC election will be part of the AGM in Singapore (Photo by Steve Bardens-ICC/ICC via Getty ... More Images) Eight candidates will contest the upcoming Chief Executives' Committee election, with three coveted Associate Member spots up for grabs amid changing dynamics among cricket's powerbrokers. The deadline for nominations was on June 17, with the election to take place on July 17 to kick-start the International Cricket Council's Annual General Meeting in Singapore. Incumbent Sumod Damodar (Botswana) will recontest, but Rashpal Bajwa (Canada) and Denmark's Umair Butt have decided not to. Former Hong Kong chief Tim Cutler (Vanuatu) and ex USA cricket governing body administrator Sankar Renganathan (Sierre Leone), are the high-profile candidates running. Tim Cutler will run for the CEC (Photo by Nora Tam/South China Morning Post via Getty Images) Gurumurthy Palani (France), Stella Siale (Somoa), Gurdeep Klair (Canada), Anuraag Bhatnagar (Hong Kong), Sarah Gomersall (Jersey) have also put their hands up. The CEC is supposed to promote and develop cricket worldwide, while governing and regulating the sport at the international level. Being on it is highly coveted for Associate chiefs, who get to mix with the top bosses from the Full Members and the CEC is often seen as a stepping stone to get onto the ICC board – where the real power lies in global cricket. The grips of power is tightening for mighty India after the ascension of all-powerful Jay Shah as ICC chair - with much eyebrows raised over apparent glorification of him since he stepped into the role- and with Indian Sanjog Gupta, the head of live sports at JioStar, set to take over as chief executive, as I first flagged in January. There are continual fears of the health of smaller cricket nations, particularly Associates who are granted less funding, power and fixturing compared to the 12 Full Member nations in cricket's archaic tiered system of governance. The Indian governing body currently receives most of the ICC's revenue distribution model, 38.5 per cent or about $600 million annually, dwarfing the share of the 96 Associates who get about two per cent. Jay Shah has been a prominent ICC chair (Photo by) There will be a reshaping of the CEC with several well-known administrators and prominent figures behind the scenes eying spots. Damodar is a veteran of three terms on the CEC and he returned late last year after Mubashshir Usmani, a rising administrator at the helm of the Emirates Cricket Board, was elected to the ICC board. The outspoken Damodar, a former chair of the African Cricket Association, has been behind ambitious proposals such as reviving the Afro-Asia Cup and pushing more marquee events for Associate nations. He also wants to see the much-discussed high performance programme finally established in a revival after it ran for over 15 years before being scrapped late last decade. The programme for top Associates included player development pathways and specialized administrative structures to help professionalize those deemed close to Full Member level. The new high performance programme, in a point of difference, would involve some of the smaller Full Members, such as Ireland, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, along with top Associates. 'There are many things that are currently on the cards and of agreed upon but not put into place, like the high performance programme,' Damodar told me. 'There are also lots of on-field issues that need to be sorted like better pathways for umpires at the Associate level and smoothing procedures for those cited for suspect bowling actions.' Renganathan looms as a wildcard and he has been well know as an outspoken critic of embattled USA Cricket, which has had issues complying with its ICC Associate membership. But he has kept busy helping develop cricket in Sierre Leone, a small West African nation ravaged by civil war from 1991-2002. Renganathan unsuccessfully ran in last year's ICC board Associate Member Directors election. Sankar Renganathan is running for the CEC. 'I want to make sure we have the right people sitting in the room, so that the 96 countries are properly voiced,' he said. 'It's important to be transparent and try to spread funds to all members and try to develop cricket because great things can happen like what we're seeing in Sierre Leone.' Voters from 40 Associate Members and five regional representatives (Americas, Asia, Europe, East Asia-Pacific and Africa) will select one candidate each. Under ICC rules, candidates have to be a representative of an Associate Member or a current/past ICC director. Newly elected members will have two-year terms and will also be part of the Associate Member Committee helping govern and regulate the Associate level.
