Blow to lose Stokes, but England's game plan won't change
Dan Lawrence tips Ollie Pope to have a 'fantastic' run as England captain in Ben Stokes' absence.
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00:00Yeah, definitely. He's obviously been touted as England captain for a couple of years now.
00:06I've obviously played under him at Surrey as captain and he's fantastic and I'm sure he'll take it upon his stride.
00:14Do you lose a little bit in the aura that Ben Stokes carries around that every time he's on a cricket field for England there is a sense that something special can happen?
00:24Yeah, I think it's obviously quite important for Oli not to try and be Ben Stokes because he's obviously a very dominant character.
00:32I think it's very good that he's around this week as well because he's obviously going to be overseeing things and helping out wherever he can.
00:38Yeah, not having Stokes is obviously a big loss for the team but it's another great opportunity for A. Oli to step up and get some practice as captain and then for us younger players to go out there and put on the performance.
00:51But without him, given how clear the identity has been in the last couple of years, is it almost a little bit easier to carry on as a team because you know how Ben has wanted the game to be played?
01:02Yeah, I think the general game plan is going to be exactly the same. I think with the bat it's going to be to be aggressive and then with the ball we're looking to take wickets.
01:09I know you guys have probably heard that all before but I can't imagine much is going to change and I'm sure Popey is going to have very similar messages to Stokes here.