'Stone is an EXCITING bowler!' 🤩 Ollie Pope previews Sri Lanka Second Test 🏏

all good at the but make sure yeah go ahead yeah hi Ollie um obviously no Mark Wood OE stone is back for a first test match in three years he's bit scre in his back in a long injury record do you have any doubts about his robustness for test Cricket uh no not at all I think um he's obviously had a tough time and had injuries that unfortunately fast Bowlers can just game especially when they Bowl up to 90 M an hour um last so just really excited for oy to get the opportunity to pull that shirt back on I know how hard it's worked and I know how hard it is being injured for such a long period of time so kind of gives you a bit of perspective of things and I'm just know excited to be out on the pitch with him and obviously he's an exciting Bowl can bowl bow good pace and with good skills as well can you match Mark Wood's some hostility we'll see this week um I played recently with him in the 100 uh for London spirit and and he bow it at some really good pace so um yeah fingers trust he can I mean wood he's wood he's what is he clocking 97 so if he if he does get there then fair play um but no I'm sure he'll be pushing pushing the speed uh right up there and creating some good challenges for for their batters we've been watching Ben Stokes again batting in the Nets he was saying that the transition to you as Captain went seamlessly is that how you felt and how are you feeling about getting some runs here at Lords uh yeah I think it's obviously different captaining for the first time um it's obviously a fresh start um for for me me and it almost it just had the had a slightly different feel when the F it's the first time you do it almost like that kind of Debut feeling again um but at the same time I really enjoyed the week um obviously the runs didn't translate for me but yeah hopefully over the next two weeks I can sort of put aside my my captaining when it's time to bat uh focus on my batting and then score some good runs for the team then just finally for me D Milan just confirmed his International retirement one of only two players to have scored centuries in all three formats what kind of tribute would you pay to him yeah I think he's obviously such a highly skilled batter and he obviously feels now now is obviously the right time for him to step away from the international cricket and uh yeah and enjoy some more Cricket I'm sure coming up but no he's uh he's had a top career obviously and Ash is 100 away from home something very special and to do it in all three formats like you said there's not there's not many of them who have done that so no he's obviously got a lot to be proud of thank you olle there you were living through a really gripping test match at Old Trafford you you talked to all of us about that you come here you're trying to work on your batting things about your strategy talking to us again uh it's a different kind of feeling isn't it when you're the captain going in this intense kind of test match summer I wonder how you keep your energy going yeah I think it is different um like I said I really enjoyed last week um obviously the runs didn't come for me but for the team to get the win that's I mean that's the most important thing and I think the first time you do anything like that I remember like I said I almost compared it to another debut um I remember after my test debut after day one I was just knacking and we barely we barely did anything I think we fielded for a few overs so I think um so it's good to get that first one out the way and get that first win on the board and I think yeah like I said it's just about having the two things separate um I've obviously got got time in the Nets where you can go work on your game but then as soon as you're back in the changing room you can go and go and be the captain and the leader um again there so that's something that I've spoken to someone like Joe root about as well obviously um a very very successful England Captain who obviously did Joy root things with the bat throughout um so hopefully yeah like I said over the next couple of weeks um I can go and put some good scores together for the team um but yeah I think the first one was probably bit of learning for me and to how to manage the two things separately um but it can also be a positive as well I think engaging your brain in the while you're in the field into sort of field placings and what Bowlers to use and when can also over the course of the next two games potentially be a positive as well so I don't I don't see it as a as a negative on my batting um obviously it's two weeks two more weeks of it um so it's not like I'm staring down the barrel of some some long fatigue it's something that I've really enjoyed so far so yeah hopefully I can like I said reward the runs with some team this week and next week as well absolutely you mentioned Joe root there and he does feel like a constant in in this team I think it's down to four players now here who were playing in the last test of the last summer I mean there's lots of reasons for that turnover but I wonder the challenge of keeping the continuity of the philosophy in the team when the personal are changing so much yeah I think we obviously have made some slight adjustments there's obviously been a couple of injuries as well obviously with Stokes and um Zack up top um and there just unfortunate injuries that that happen um but at the same time it's a great opportunity for other guys to come in and and get a go that they deserve an event as well and and I think obviously the with what Brendan did um leading into this s this summer he made some pretty brutal changes that um that he saw that are going to take the take the team into a better a place getting forward and I think we showed last week I know we don't use the term basball but um we we played a different style of cricket and I think that's something that can keep taking us forward as a team and and when we can be ruthless we've got to we've got to try and be ruthless just to win as as many games as possible and other days we'll we'll go out and score a little bit more freely and take potentially take the wickets um in a shorter amount of time so I think it's a credit to the guys that have come in obviously Jamie Smith as well the way he played and both Innings um is is a crit credit to him and shows that we're really sort of taking this team forward now great just finally for me I just wanted to mention Sri Lanka because I think you know they played seriously well in Ultra but I think it felt to me watching that maybe this was a step up compared to the the three test matches you had at the start of the summer and they'll be confident now and they've got um you know perhaps the weather they they enjoy it's a serious challenge against the Shri Lankan team mod yeah absolutely I think we don't take any team lightly um even that West Indies series there were there were days in which where they they had really good days and I guess were neck and neck almost after two days and we managed to play the the slightly better Cricket over the course of the five days in each of the test matches so I think that's good that we're getting pushed and like like you said Sri Lanka impressive last week I think um especially the way they batted um I guess when you come to England you you expect different conditions and I guess the conditions weren't your classic English style pitches but at the same time to go for the guys to go and put together some good scores um set us a Chase from a 100 deficit is credit to them as well um but I think yeah hopefully we can just keep keep getting better and I'm sure that they'll be they'll be confident and they'll they'll feel strong but if we can play our best Cricket hopefully come out on the right side of the result again Dave and then we'll do M hi you mentioned that you've really enjoyed getting getting stuck in a captaincy I was just wondering what bits you really enjoying and what bits you maybe not enjoying so much I wouldn't say there's firstly nothing I didn't enjoy about it um is just different like I said but rather than rather than worrying about your catching and some ideas for Stokes you you you you've got a lot more to think about so that that's a different side of thing I didn't I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy it at all um and I think yeah just the challenge of trying to work with the bowlers take 20 wickets in the Test match on a pitch that I guess once the ball got past 15 20 overs was fairly fairly unresponsive unresponsive off the pitch um so I enjoyed the challenge of that and enjoyed using my Cricket brain to to try and help help the team get those 20 wickets and I think credit to the bowlers for for how they bow and stuck to the plans and like I said I've got some good guys to lean on in that in that changing room and on the pitch to to help me out when I'm out there um so yeah no I I'd like obviously some some more runs over the course of the series but yeah hopefully that's something that's going to come this week and next does it give you more appetite to do it in future if not for England but for for other teams as well yeah I'm always always keen on sort of standing up and being leader for for whatever team I do play for um so yeah like I said this is still stokes's team but it's a great experience for me and uh to hopefully do do really well over the course of this series and also learn some lessons and have some time for reflection after so yeah I enjoy being a leader within the changing room and using using my Cricket brain when I need to as well o how encouraging has it been to see Ben St back in the Nets over the past couple of days yeah it's been good um he's obviously pretty Keen to he I mean wishes he was out there um but no it's a good sign going forward he's obviously still Fair well away off playing and he's not he's not trying to play as a batter and a first slip just yet anyway so um no but it's great to see and injuries are never ideal but there are also great chances for people to um keep improving their game and have a little bit of time of reflection and and think about what he can work on in his game and I'm sure that's exactly what he's doing in the Nets and and going into I guess that Pakistan series and then into New Zealand he's going to be as fresh as anyone so no it's good to see I think Zach was here yesterday as well is it sort of a conscious thing to try and keep injured guys around the squad so they keep a bit of a feel of things yeah absolutely I guess um it's it's great it's great to have those guys around obviously Stokes is around for the series and to see Zach yesterday I mean I know he's gutted he's he's not here um playing in these test matches but uh for him to pop in and and catch up with the guys is great and it's good to it kind of shows where we're at as a squad and how we're a tight-knit unit and we want to keep driving that forward cuz I think that that helps us on the pitch as well St do one at the back all you mentioned you'd asked Joe about sort of advice on captaining and batting what did he say um I think we just spoke about how it's how it is more taxing in the field um but it's just finding a little routine and doing small certain things which which not it's nothing massive just finding a way just to I guess once you do get your pads on and sit there waiting to B is just trying to get into your old routine of of how you do um do go out and bat and people do different things before they bat some watch some don't and those kind of things so it's just it's just making sure that I just keep doing what what has brought success for me over over the last couple of years um and just having that and repeat and and it's just you might be a bit fatigued but I think yeah it's it's just it's only positive as well like I said it's not going to be we got two two more weeks to the series so um it's not like I'm saying I'm I'm fatigued about it but it's just yeah just finding a way to compartmentalize the two and chant to rout he's obviously got a great great Cricket brain in England's best batter so we just bounce off a few ideas of each other you're only doing the job for a short amount of time I'm not asking you if you want to do it in the long term but what is your perspective of people who do this full-time like have you been able to switch off have you been able to sleep while like can you imagine what it must be like to be England Captain yeah yeah I think I think that's probably the important thing and I think you get it as as your career goes on I think it's for for test Cricket is what I struggled with early in my career I guess I was I was I had a pretty average first probably 20 OD games and and I probably struggled getting away from the game a little bit too much I was pretty pretty young and and trying to find my way and really had E I was really eager to to be successful and to put winning contributions towards the team so I think that probably got too a little bit too much for me at the time when I was younger so I think now as a test cricketer I've I've learned and I think in this environment as well it's a lot easier to find ways to switch off and and to freshen up and you might have that slight bit of more fatigue being captain and being captain of your side but I guess it goes back to those same strategies of finding a way to get away from the game and and really making the most of your time off CU you know once you're once you're in the mix of it it's going to be it's going to be fair Fairly tiring so yeah it just make put puts a bit more emphasis on the time where you can actually get away from cricket and and not even think about it for a couple of weeks and last one yeah uh Sri Lanka coming after loss and you are one up in the series so loads is to pretty much good for them that as the fast you concerned about the fast track record so do you have any uh new plans against them or stick to the same Basics that you had on the alra uh yeah no I wouldn't say there's any specific plans there somewhere where we've played a fair bit of cricket and had some decent success over the last uh over the last couple of years um but I don't think the venue necessarily makes too much of a difference for us um we just try and try and play our play our best cricket and go out try and take 20 wickets and get as many runs and try and keep it as simple as as simple as we can over over the week that's coming up so if we can play our best Cricket like I said hopefully come outside on the right side of the result thank you all you stay there we're going to do the UK written bule for five minutes then we thank you everyone