England stand-in captain Ollie Pope knows that he hasn’t scored runs despite winning a series against Sri Lanka. The right-handed batter said that poor form and coming back to scoring ways are part of the sport but will try to block out all the criticism.

He has registered scores of 6, 6, 1, and 17 since getting the captain’s armband. The 26-year-old averages 34 in 48 Tests and will look to return to form in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka.

Pope remembered how Ben Stokes told him that all the eyes would be on him.

“This is how I’ve played. Form comes and goes, and the good players can draw a line under it. Hopefully, I will soon score runs.

“Stokes told me that when you are a captain you attract a lot more. It is important to block and stay close to the people. There are a lot of people, including former cricketers, who want to have their say. That’s fine. Let them have their opinion,” he said.

Michael Vaughan had slammed Ollie Pope for his captaincy, calling for his removal.

“We played good cricket this summer”: Ollie Pope

Ollie Pope is thinking of rounding off the summer with another win to make it six in six.

“It would be pretty cool to make it six in six in Test format. We played good cricket in the summer after a tough series in India. To get back to winning ways is always good.”

The third and final Test between England and Sri Lanka will start on September 6 at The Oval.