Don't Miss

India's CWG 2026 Medal Tally Lowest In 24 Years, Yet Among The Best

Tactical Self-Destruction: How England Threw Away Their World Cup Final Dream

Bundesliga Blueprint: How Zee Plans To Complete India's Football Jigsaw

Manuel Neuer Doesn't Know Where To Stop: Not On The Pitch, Not In His Career

Advertisement

ENG

Dark / Light mode

Oct 9,2026 11:05 AM IST

Ollie Pope Clarifies 'Misconception' Around England Test Team After 4-1 Ashes Debacle

facebook

twitter

WhatsApp

Settings

Select Language

Dark / Light mode

Search

Cricket

arrow-down reddit snapchat twitter facebook comments email printer search bell top-nav reddit-fill snapchat-fill twitter-fill facebook-fill share whatsapp-fill bookmark arrow-rgt arrow-next arrow-up refresh close link cog star book zap cricket football tennis formula-1 badminton hockey golf boxing ndtv-n check left-arrow right-arrow

Live Cricket Matches

India Matches

IPL 2026

Football Matches

ISL

EPL

All Matches

India Matches

EPL

Sports Home Cricket News Ollie Pope Clarifies Misconception Around England Test Team After 41 Ashes Debacle

Related Articles

Story ProgressBack to home

Ollie Pope Clarifies 'Misconception' Around England Test Team After 4-1 Ashes Debacle

Ollie Pope believes the idea England "weren't fussed" during their woeful Ashes tour of Australia was unfair on the squad but understands why the "misperception" became lodged in the minds of many fans and pundits.

Read Time: 3 min

facebook

twitter

WhatsApp

reddit

E-mail

File image of Ollie Pope.© AFP

Ollie Pope believes the idea England "weren't fussed" during their woeful Ashes tour of Australia was unfair on the squad but understands why the "misperception" became lodged in the minds of many fans and pundits. Ben Stokes' tourists went down to a 4-1 series loss to Australia over five Tests in 2025/26, with the troubled campaign still the subject of an England and Wales Cricket Board review. In addition to their poor on-field performance, concerns about the culture of the England squad emerged during a break in Noosa, an Australian resort, where there were reports of excessive drinking by players.

This was followed by revelations that vice-captain Harry Brook had had an altercation with a nightclub bouncer on the pre-Ashes visit to New Zealand.

Pope, however, insists England's were fully focused on regaining the Ashes and might have been more successful had they cemented an encouraging start to the first Test in Perth.

"Going into that series, there was a lot spoken about the preparation of it," Pope told reporters on Tuesday. "As a team, the misconception might be that we weren't as fussed as it came across."

The 28-year-old, speaking at county side Surrey's media day, added: "The tough thing for everyone in that first game (Test) was the nature of it. Had we won that, and we'd done slightly better on day two, the idea is different.

"Of course we want to be a well-liked team, on and off the pitch, and unfortunately our performance didn't allow that to happen in Australia.

'Take the pressure off'

"I can understand why people felt that way, but at the same time the perception that we weren't fussed was probably the hard thing. All we wanted to do was go and win the Ashes...All anyone wanted to do was to win. 

"And for us at times it was just trying to, in our minds, take the pressure off the actual Test match."

Even before the trip started, questions were raised about a lack of preparation in Australian conditions, which consisted of a three-day match against the second-string England Lions at Lilac Hill in Perth.

"As we've done over the previous years, we tried to treat it like a normal series to get the best out of ourselves," said Pope. "Unfortunately, it didn't quite go to plan."

He added: "I know what I need to be as ready as I can be. From a personal point, I felt as ready as I could have been for that first Test."

Pope was dropped after the third Test after averaging only 20.83 runs across the first three games, with replacement Jacob Bethell going on to score a century in the fifth Test at Sydney.

But Pope insisted he was determined to regain his England place, saying: "I still feel like my best batting years are to come."

The Surrey batsman was speaking after the England and Wales Cricket Board went back on a plan to stop its Ashes players speaking to the media ahead of the new county season while it conducts its review.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Featured Video Of The Day

CWG 2026 Weightlifting Gold Medallist, Mirabai Chanu Get Hero's Welcome in Delhi

Topics mentioned in this article

Ollie Pope England England Cricket Team Australia vs England, Ashes 2025-26 Cricket

Get the Latest Cricket, Asian Games 2026, Football , Hockey, Badminton Scores, F1 Results at NDTV Sports. Like Us On Facebook Or Follow Us On Twitter For More Sports Updates. You Can Also Download The NDTV Cricket App For Android Or iOS.

Advertisement

Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com

Advertisement

ICC Rankings

Advertisement

Now Trending

Advertisement

Trending Links

Follow us on:

facebook

twitter

Cricket

Football

More Sports

Formula 1 Tennis Hockey Badminton Golf Nba Kabaddi Shooting Swimming Table Tennis

This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics © Copyright NDTV Convergence Limited 2026. All rights reserved.