England ‘bewildered’ by umpire’s decision to ask injured Pope to field

PTI, Jul 1, 2023, 11:12 AM IST

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The on-field umpire’s decision to ask an injured Ollie Pope to field in Australia’s second innings during the ongoing second Ashes Test at Lord’s has left hosts England ”bewildered”.

Pope, who left the field on the opening day after having injured his shoulder during a diving effort while fielding, was declared fit enough to bat in his usual position at No.3 in England’s first innings after receiving treatment.

He made 42 as England were all out for 325 in their first innings. Australia were 130/2 at stumps on day three in their second innings, with a lead of 221.

On-field umpire Marais Erasmus then said Pope would have to field in Australia’s second innings or he would not be able to bat at No.3 later in the match, leaving the English dressing room irked.

”He is sore but he should be OK to bat again tomorrow,” England’s spin-bowling coach Jeetan Patel was quoted as saying by the English media.

”We’re a bit bewildered by it all. We haven’t clarified yet with the officials as to why he was told he had to get back out there and field.

”It’s a pretty tough situation when you nearly bust your shoulder and you’re told it was an external (injury), is it still an external, we don’t know? ”He had to go back out there. It was always going to happen, isn’t it? He’s so committed to this team he was always going to fall on something, and now he’s back off the field icing his shoulder,” he added. Pope, who has had two serious shoulder injuries in the past, landed heavily at mid-on which worsened the injury. ”It’s a bit confusing. We assume that he was told he had to be back out on the field or else we had to field with 10 men, and that made no sense to me,” Patel said.

”It’s a bit messy if I’m honest with you. We’re probably as frustrated as everyone else out there that saw what happened, and him, and he’s probably more angry at the situation than anything else.”