- England beat the West Indies by 241 runs within the second Take a look at at Trent Bridge
- Shoaib Bashir took 5 second-innings wickets for England on Sunday
- The third Take a look at Match of the sequence will get underway at Edgbaston on Friday
Ollie Pope has urged England to show their sequence victory over West Indies right into a successful behavior as they go seeking a whitewash within the third Take a look at at Edgbaston on Friday.
Victory at Trent Bridge gave Ben Stokes’s aspect their first full sequence win since December 2022, having within the meantime drawn with New Zealand and Australia, and misplaced in India, both aspect of a one-off victory over Eire.
And it left Stokes with a successful proportion of 61, the third-highest determine in Take a look at historical past amongst captains who’ve led their nation in a minimum of 25 video games. Solely the Australian duo of Steve Waugh (72%) and Ricky Ponting (62%) have carried out higher.
However Pope, England’s vice-captain, desires them to crack on now in a brand new period which has seen the profitable introduction of wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, quick bowler Gus Atkinson and spinner Shoaib Bashir. The sight of Mark Wooden reaching 97mph has additionally lifted spirits.
Requested whether or not the staff have been on the verge of one thing particular, Pope replied: ‘Yeah, hopefully this summer season and past. The staff is trying actually set on the minute. We’ve obtained a pleasant balanced bowling assault. The way in which Bash has bowled is superb. After which we’ve obtained the 2 fast guys as nicely.
Ollie Pope was named Participant of the match after England’s 2nd Take a look at win towards the West Indies
England have now taken an unassailable 2-0 lead on this summer season’s three-match Take a look at sequence
Joe Root scored 122 runs with the bat – his thirty second three-figure Take a look at Match knock for England
‘There was clearly so much mentioned after the India sequence, however India is all the time a troublesome place to go. Successful can develop into a behavior and the way in which we’ve gone about these two video games is high-class.’
Pope additionally believes England’s batting is healthier positioned than ever after a Nottingham Take a look at by which England topped 400 twice for the primary time of their historical past.
‘When Baz [Brendon McCullum] and Stokesy took over, we have been a batting unit with, not a scarcity of expertise, however a insecurity. And I really feel everybody has grown into their roles.
‘There all the time is a starvation, however now there’s an additional bit in that batting line-up and we really feel like we will go on to even higher issues. On the time it was about constructing confidence. Now, hopefully, we will maintain turning into an increasing number of ruthless.’
