Before england

Sky Sports Cricket: Before England’s Test against Sri Lanka began at the Oval, there was a lot of pressure on stand-in captain Ollie Pope, as runs dried off his bat when he stepped into an injured regular skipper Ben Stokes’ shoes.

But on day one of the match, Pope gave a strong answer to his critics by hitting an unbeaten 103 on his home ground – his seventh century for England in the longer format, as the hosts made 221/3 on a truncated day.

Former pacer Stuart Broad said all the talk around Pope before this Test won’t exist now after the sparkling century from the right-handed batter. "I think when you are struggling for a bit of form or rhythm, come back home at a place where he bats so well. He averages 80 here, he is so good in these conditions."