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Ben Duckett has paid tribute to England stand-in captain Ollie Pope for silencing the doubters with a timely Test century against Sri Lanka.
Duckett fell 14 runs short of his own century on day one at the Kia Oval but joined his team-mates in roaring Pope over the line from the team balcony.
Pope finished unbeaten on 103 as England reached 221 for three in a day reduced to just 44.1 overs by bad light and rain, the perfect answer to questions about his ability to balance his role as captain with the demands of batting at third.
In his first four innings as a replacement for the injured Ben Stokes he averaged just 7.50, but his seventh Test century, in terribly gloomy conditions, tells a different story.
“It shouldn’t be, but there’s been a lot of noise around Popey in recent weeks,” Duckett said.
“To not have that chance and to get an incredible 100 points was really good. You could see it in his emotions as well and we’re all extremely happy for him.”
The whole ground rose to celebrate Pope as he celebrated his 12th first-class ton at his home track, but moments later the cheers turned to boos.
After a delay of almost three hours earlier in the day, the umpires’ decision to withdraw the teams after less than half the scheduled overs had been bowled was greeted with a heavy blow by fans who had paid dearly for their tickets.
The debate over poor light regulations continues to spark heated debate, with many arguing that Test cricket is too precious about its playing conditions, but Duckett has sided with the officials.
“It’s very easy to sit there as a fan and want to see more cricket, but if it’s really dark and more dangerous, we’re the ones playing,” he said.
“It has a big impact when those lights come on and the ball starts moving a little bit more. It has nothing to do with us because we don’t have a choice anymore. The refs take us off and we have to respect the decision. We’re going to have to follow their rules.”
Duckett was upbeat about his own dismissal, which came during a period of sustained aggression from the left-hander.
He drew on his limited-overs playbook as he began to come off stump to pick up the pace of the bowlers over his shoulder, taking a six and a four with the premeditated stroke before chipping his third attempt over the wicketkeeper.
“When you play like that for a period you can’t really blame yourself, but obviously I missed a 100 test there,” he admitted.
“It might be a learning curve for me, but it’s fortunate that I’ve been thinking about playing Test cricket for a long time. It seemed like the right option.
“In a way I’m really happy to have hit that shot today, it’s a shot I play very well in white-ball cricket and it won’t be the last time I play that shot.”
