England batter Pope hopeful of test recall after Ashes axe

England batter Ollie Pope says he remains hopeful of returning to the national Test side after accepting his omission following a poor Ashes series was the right call.

Pope was dropped after managing only 125 runs in six innings during England’s 4-1 Ashes defeat to Australia in January, with Jacob Bethell replacing him at number three for the last two Tests.

“I guess I knew where I stood,” Pope said.

“Getting dropped is tough. I didn’t want to get dropped, of course, but it was the right decision at the time.”

The 28-year-old, who has played 64 Tests since making his red-ball debut in 2018, said he had clear communication with head coach Brendon McCullum and director of cricket Rob Key after losing his place.

“For me the chats were ‘go back, score loads of runs,’” he said.

“If I’m not in that XI, can I make sure I’m the best batter in the country? I can take my game to another level, and make sure if something happens, it’s making sure I’m the man to come in.”

Pope’s path back into the side remains uncertain, with Bethell entrenching himself across formats after scoring his maiden first-class cricket century in the fifth Test in Sydney, followed by 105 in England’s Twenty20 World Cup semi-final defeat to India.

Pope also lost the Test vice-captaincy to Harry Brook last year and will start the County Championship season outside the Test squad for the first time since 2022.

“I still feel I can become a better player to bat at number three if something were to happen,” Pope said. “But we’ll see how the next few weeks pan out and going into the season.”

“My summer, I’m not 100% sure what it looks like going forward. We’ve got a block of seven games for Surrey in the Championship, so I want to make sure my game keeps improving, developing for if and when the England stuff comes around again.

“It’s different when you’re not constantly playing in the Test matches. To have a block like this, I can go back to what really works well for me and make sure my game is in as good a place (as it can be).”

Meanwhile, all‑rounder Liam Livingstone said he was left out in the cold after being dropped by England last year and the current regime does not care about players outside the core group.

The 32‑year‑old has not played for England since the Champions Trophy in Pakistan last year, where he scored only 33 runs and took three wickets in three matches.

Livingstone, who has played 60 T20 Internationals, 39 ODIs and one Test for England, described the tour as the “worst experience” of his career and said communication from team management broke down after he was dropped.

Coach McCullum broke the news he was being dropped last May in a telephone call lasting barely a minute, he told ESPNCricinfo.

“I asked why. They said they wanted to try someone else. That was off Baz (McCullum). Brooky (Harry Brook) sent me a text. — Suramya Kaushik

“Keysy (director of cricket Rob Key) said nothing, said I’ll speak to you in the summer. I rang him one day and he said he was busy at a test camp at Loughborough and then I didn’t hear from him until the end of September.

“That probably sums that group up as a collective. That was a bit of an eye-opening experience about the group and the regime: if you’re in, you’re in, and if you’re not in, no one cares about you,” he said.

“I was asking for help and pretty much all I got was that I care too much and I need to chill out a bit.”

The England and Wales Cricket Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside UK business hours.