'It's about getting the job done': Pope happy with England's cautious comeback | England vs Sri Lanka 2024

England vice-captain Ollie Pope said his team had proved they were “not just a one-dimensional team” with their five-wicket win against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford.

Unlike many of their performances since Brendon McCullum was appointed manager in May 2022, England's hunt for victory was slow rather than high-pressure. But in difficult conditions and against formidable opponents, Pope stressed that it “showed where we are as a team overall”.

After Sri Lanka finished the second innings on 326, England needed almost 58 overs to reach their victory target of 205, with Joe Root taking 95 balls to score his first boundary and reach an unbeaten 62 to win the match.

“On another day we might try to do that in 20 overs less but because of the nature of the pitch the outfield was pretty slow as well and I thought they bowled really well,” Pope said. “It's not just a one-dimensional team that wants to go out and score quickly, we always want to read situations better and try to be as ruthless as possible. It's not just about scoring as quickly as possible, it's about getting the job done.”

With Ben Stokes and Zak Crawley missing through injury – and there may be further changes, with Mark Wood doubtful for Thursday's second Test at Lord's after a thigh strain – this was a youthful and somewhat unfamiliar side that nevertheless recorded its ninth win in 10 home matches since McCullum's appointment.

“You look around the bus every now and then and think, 'Jeez, this is a really young team,'” Pope said. “But we also have a great balance of experience and youth. Of course it's a shame Stokes isn't there, but it gives other guys the opportunity to shine in slightly different roles. That's the kind of win that can give a lot of people confidence.”

Despite his inexperience as a captain, Pope thought he handled it quite well and was quite happy with it. But he failed with the bat in both innings, scoring six in each. “I think that's one thing I can take away from this Test: I make sure I'm captain when we're on the field, but when it's batting time, it's batting time,” he said. “I can draw a line once we're off the field, put my kit on and then I can focus on myself because that's what's best for the team as well.”

Pope described the surface at Old Trafford as “almost like the subcontinent”, but while the pitch may have been more familiar to the Sri Lankans, the weather certainly was not. “Hopefully we'll have sun next week, that will do us good,” said their captain Dhananjaya de Silva.

“It was tough here, it was cold and windy. We're not used to that. There are positives here and there. We knew England would play hard against us. We had our plans, but we couldn't implement them in the first inning. We made mistakes in the first inning and that cost us the game.”