England national cricket team assistant coach Marcus Trescothick has almost confirmed that star batsman Ollie Pope will bat at No. 3 for the visiting team in the Ashes 2025-26.
Marcus Trescothick’s latest comments confirm that extremely talented all-rounder Jacob Bethell, who is tipped to be the next big thing in English cricket, could warm the bench in the marquee series.
I’m imagining a similar number three to the one we’ve had for some time – Marcus Trescothick over Ollie Pope
England expressed a lot of confidence in Ollie Pope and made him the vice-captain of the Test team. Pope deserved the vice-captaincy to some extent as he had some brilliant performances with the bat.
However, over the years, a pattern developed where Ollie Pope started the series very well but struggled as it progressed.
After this, there were calls for his removal from the leadership position as well as from the team and the English team management took a big step at the time of announcing the squad for the Ashes as they sacked Ollie Pope from the post of vice-captain and named Harry Brook in his place.
This led to speculation that he would be dropped from the team for Jacob Bethell, but this seems unlikely, as Marcus Trescothick has indicated that Ollie Pope will remain England’s number three for the Ashes. The England assistant coach told BBC Sport:
“I’m assuming the same kind of number three that we’ve had for a while. All I can say is we’re a very consistent team in what we’re trying to do.”
I think everyone has an opportunity to stake their case – Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Trescothick further said that all the players included in the team will fight for a place in the team, but they will try to maintain consistency in the selection. He said:
“I think everyone has an opportunity to stake their claim. As I mentioned, it’s been very classy with how consistent we have been in our team selection.
“Barring the odd injury, we haven’t really changed much and not much has changed. It’s certainly not going to change dramatically before the start of the Ashes series because someone puts their hand up by taking five wickets or scoring 150 runs.
“The team has been the same for a while for some reason, so when you come to a big series you are more settled and confident going into it.”
Also read: Wanindu Hasaranga makes fun of Babar Azam after troubling him in Rawalpindi as the batsman is at par with Virat Kohli.
Marcus Trescothick gives update on Ben Stokes, Mark Wood
The England coach further revealed that Ben Stokes is likely to play as a proper all-rounder in the Ashes, and Mark Wood will play a big role in the team after his recovery.
“As long as he’s happy and feeling good, he’ll play a full role in the Test matches,” Trescothick said of captain Ben Stokes.
“He (Mark Wood) is fine. He’s obviously getting his body together and taking good care of the knee at the moment.”
“If he’s running and bowling at the level he needs to and the medical side is happy where he is – I’m pretty sure that’s the case – then he’ll be in contention just like everyone else.”
