Follow UsEngland were dealt with a major injury scare on the first day of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s as Ollie Pope, the side’s vice-captain, left the field clutching his right shoulder after seemingly jarring his shoulder while diving to stop a ball.
The incident occurred on the fifth ball of the 28th over of Australia’s innings bowled by Josh Tongue. A poke from Marnus Labuschagne threatened to pierce the gap and go to the boundary, but Pope, fielding at backward point, dove forward and saved three runs. However, in the process, the 25-year-old seemed to hurt his right shoulder. After the dive, he clutched his shoulder instantly, and immediately left the field. Pope did not step on to the field for the rest of the day.
In a statement on their official Twitter handle, ECB revealed that Pope’s injury was being ‘assessed’ by the medical team.
“Ollie Pope is off the field after hurting his right shoulder and is currently being assessed by the England medical team,” England Cricket’s official handle tweeted.
Pope has had shoulder issues in the past that have led him to miss months of action, but the issue has been with his left shoulder. In 2020, Pope missed more than four months of action after dislocating his left shoulder in the final Test of the three-match series against Pakistan at home. On Wednesday, however, it was the right shoulder that the 25-year-old ended up hurting.
England would be hoping for the issue to not be serious. Despite scoring just 45 runs across two innings at Edgbaston, Pope is an integral part of this England batting unit. He’s averaged 44.12 under the full-time leadership of Ben Stokes but crucially, has struck at over 77. Prior to the start of the home summer, he was named Stokes’ deputy.