Ben Stokes hits out at ‘twisted agenda’ over centurion Pope’s status

Ben Stokes criticised the speculation about Ollie Pope’s position in the England team, insisting parts of the media were pursuing “an agenda” against him. On the eve of England’s victory inside three days, the captain was asked about the chances of Jacob Bethell, away playing in the IPL, returning for next month’s series against India.

“If you talk about nailing down a position, Beth has done himself the world of good with the performances he put in [in New Zealand over the winter],” Stokes said. “I think you can put two and two together.”

View image in fullscreen Ben Stokes said he made it clear to Ollie Pope how much he values the England batter. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images/Reuters

His comment was widely interpreted that Bethell would return to the starting XI, but after Pope, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett all scored centuries as England cruised to victory by an innings and 45 runs Stokes said he “made it pretty clear” that Bethell was guaranteed no more than “coming back into the squad”.

“That was written to suit an agenda that was being said away from what is in the team,” he said. “It is unfortunate that you say something and it can get twisted. I made it very clear to Popey the night before this Test that is not the case. He’s my vice-captain and he’s been incredible.

“Popey knows how much I value him, not only as a player but also as a leader, as a vice-captain. He’s someone who I lean on a lot out there. He’s very good in particular when I’m bowling, about a few things that are a lot easier to miss when I’ve got my bowling head on. So, just a big misinterpretation.”

Shoaib Bashir posted career-best figures of six for 81, finishing with nine in the match as England coasted to victory with more than four sessions to spare. “He’s got some unbelievable natural ability, his height and how much he puts on the ball and his ability to be able to change from square seam to upright seam, the skill is undoubted,” Stokes said of the 21-year-old.

“The big progression with him is building towards a dismissal more and not getting a bit too giddy. That was the word he used out there. It’s scary to think about the start to his career that he’s had. To be where he is now, it’s super, super exciting. I can say it’s impossible for him not to get even better than what he is now.”

England’s progress was slowed by half-centuries from Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza and by Ben Curran’s 104-ball 37, all three among Bashir’s victims. “On that first day we weren’t really up to par,” the Zimbabwe captain, Craig Ervine, said. “With our big quicks we didn’t get enough in the right area – when you can do that, especially in these conditions, you ask a lot of questions and unfortunately we didn’t do that, which made it difficult to control the scoring.

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“Our goal was to not let them score too quickly, otherwise we knew we were going to be under pressure especially after day one and knowing the way England like to go about their batting. Then from a batting perspective guys really fought hard, we got ourselves into decent positions and couldn’t really kick on from there.

“What you want as a player group is to be able to go back home from this having learned something that you can take with you, that can improve you as a player. There’s a lot of knowledge guys have gained since we’ve been here.”

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