Ollie Pope ruled out of Ashes 2023 

England's No.3 batsman, Ollie Pope, will play no further part in the Ashes series after sustaining a shoulder injury. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed that Pope dislocated his right shoulder during the second Test and will require surgery.

Following scans in London, the extent of the injury was revealed, ruling Pope out for the remainder of the summer campaign. The ECB stated that he will collaborate closely with the medical teams from both England and Surrey during his rehabilitation process.

The injury occurred while Pope was fielding on the first day of the second Test at Lord's. While attempting a diving stop to a shot played by Marnus Labuschagne, Pope immediately clutched his shoulder in pain. He was unable to field for the rest of the innings but did manage to bat in both innings, scoring 42 and 3.

Initially, Pope was cleared by the umpires to bat at No.3 in England's first innings due to the external nature of his injury. However, after his first innings, match officials informed Pope that he needed to field again in order to bat higher than No.7 in England's second innings. The England team expressed confusion over this decision, with assistant coach Jeetan Patel stating that they had assumed Pope was required to be back on the field, otherwise they would have had to play with only 10 players.

Pope complied with the directive and returned to the field for Australia's second innings. However, it was evident that he was struggling, throwing the ball underarm from mid-off. His attempt to make a sliding stop to a shot played by Usman Khawaja further aggravated his shoulder injury, leading him to leave the field once again.

No replacement has been named for Pope, who is also the vice-captain of the team, for the third Test at Headingley. Dan Lawrence is expected to fill in for Pope in his absence.

The absence of Ollie Pope will undoubtedly be felt by the England team, as he has been a key contributor with the bat. However, they will need to adapt quickly and make the necessary adjustments to their lineup as they aim to regain momentum in the Ashes series.