England stand-in captain Ollie Pope is “not the kind of personality” who should be leading the team, says Michael Vaughan.
Pope, 26, is covering for the injured Ben Stokes, but his form with the bat has suffered – with three single-figure scores to his name since taking over.
On the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, Pope was caught off an ugly pull for only one – a shot that former England captain Sir Alastair Cook said was “one of a guy who was on 120”.
Vaughan, who led England in 51 Tests, believes the frenetic nature of Pope’s innings should concern the hosts.
“I don’t like him as the captain,” Vaughan told the Test Match Special podcast. “He’s not the kind of personality I’d want as the England captain.
“He’s quite an insecure human being – a great team guy and person but throwing the captaincy on him has added the pressure. He was doing great at number three.
“Harry Brook for me is an England captain in the making. I don’t see Ollie Pope as that person.”
Pope, who averages 34 in his 48 Tests, has failed to make it past the 20th ball in 38% of his Test innings, though does average 41.5 at number three.
Vaughan, who batted at number three for large parts of his Test career, said that position should belong to “the calmest player in the team”, and believes Pope should work on finding a method to calm his nerves before he bats.
“He has looked so frantic for such a good player,” added Vaughan. “I’m amazed that with all the psychologists and the backroom staff that England have that they can’t just calm him down a little bit and give him more of an opportunity.
“Look at Joe Root, who has the most amazing mentality. He comes out to bat with an amazing routine: he stretches and touches his toes, gets his legs going and sprints on. I don’t know if I look at Ollie Pope and see a routine or a process.”
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