Pope, 25, has long been seen as a potential captain of the national side in the years to come, but until recently had struggled to hold down a regular place in the Test XI. Now established at No.3, he has also led the team in warmup fixtures
Ollie Pope's billing as a future leader of the England Test team has been enhanced by his appointment as full-time vice-captain to Ben Stokes.
Pope, 25, has long been seen as a potential captain of the national side in the years to come, but until recently had struggled to hold down a regular place in the Test XI.
However, during the reign of Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, the batsman has established himself at No.3, and ahead of the 2023 English summer his place has been reinforced by the addition of vice-captaincy responsibilities.
Pope has led England sides in warmup fixtures over the past year, and may well get a chance to lead the team in a Test at some point over the summer - given Stokes' issues with injuries.
In an interview in April, he revealed that he has been giving strategy more thought in recent months: "Ever since I did my first bit of captaincy I've been watching Stokesey a little bit closer to see what he does with the bowlers, in the field and how he talks to them," he said. "Why not? It's only going to improve my cricket brain.
Ollie Pope attends a net session with England [Getty Images]
"Touch wood everything will remain good with Ben's knee but if it does come about I'd feel confident about taking over. I feel my cricket brain's good enough for me to do the job but whether they would choose me to do it in a Test I've no idea."
"There's only one Ben Stokes and even if he does get injured no-one is going to truly replicate what he does but it would be a case of taking the ideas he has implemented into the team. You would have to do it your own way but continue with his message."
Rob Key, the managing director of England men's cricket, said the appointment shows "how far [Pope] has come" over the course of the past 12 months.
"Last year we sat there and we thought: 'who can be vice-captain?' We didn't have an obvious candidate to be honest. We had some of the older guys that maybe could have done it as a stand-in role but actually, when [Stokes] has not played in warmup games, which is nearly all of them, Ollie Pope has captained," Key said.
"They're trying to give some of that leadership experience to some of the younger players and Ollie Pope has emerged as the one that they want to give the vice-captaincy to and I've no issue with that whatsoever; actually I think it's a great thing, and it shows really where Ollie Pope is and how far he's come in a year.
Ollie Pope and Ben Stokes celebrate an England wicket [Getty Images]
"I think this time last year it was a surprise for people to see him batting at three. He's now made that place his own, he’s one of the best batsmen in the world, certainly in that No3 position, and he's ready for that responsibility."
England confirmed their squad for the Ireland Test - set to take place at Lord's from June 1 - on Tuesday (May 16).
Ben Foakes has been dropped, with Jonny Bairstow returning to take the wicketkeeper's gloves. Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are both included, as are Dan Lawrence of Essex and Durham's Matthew Potts.
Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the entire summer, however, after scans revealed the seamer has suffered another stress fracture in his right elbow.
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