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Sport Nation
SELECT 👉 Bay Oval feed
Why England need to take Pope 'out of the firing line'
Nicholas Quinlan • December 21st, 2025 2:08 pm
Simon Katich has called upon the England selectors to pull Ollie Pope ‘out of the firing line’ ahead of the Boxing Day Test following his disappointing returns so far.
Before the third Ashes Test, the No. 3 batsman had managed to score 105 runs (at an average of 26.25), having only gone over 30 in a single innings.
With these performances, the 27-year-old has been under consistent selection pressure, with some calling for him to be dropped ahead of the Adelaide Test.
And after another disappointing showing with the bat in Adelaide following scores of 17 and 3, the former Australian opener believes that England should drop Pope to help remove the pressure off him.
“They’ve got to get him out of the firing line,” Katich said on SEN Cricket.
“It’s not fair on him anymore.
“It is so hard to perform when you are under so much pressure like Ollie Pope is.”
While any player would prefer not to be dropped from the national team, Damien Fleming thinks that it might be best for Pope, as it would allow him to work on his game away from the limelight that the Ashes can create.
“But sometimes you need to be dropped,” Fleming added.
“We all got dropped a couple of times, and sometimes you are annoyed like Nathan Lyon.
“But there are times where you actually feel relief from the pressure, and you go back (to state cricket) and work on your game there.
“They could have easily dropped Pope (and) pushed everyone up.”
Day 4 of the Adelaide Test is currently underway as England attempts to chase down the target of 435 to keep the series alive.
Tune into Sport Nation for live ball-by-ball commentary of The Ashes series - the third Test continues on Sport Nation Extra via the Sport Nation app - thanks to SEN.
