Pope is ready for fight after battle to play

OLLIE TOUGHENED FOR AUSSIES

- BY RORY DOLLARD

OLLIE POPE believes he is more prepared than ever for the hostility of an Ashes series after fighting hard to keep his England place for a year.

The surprise emergence of Jacob Bethell on last winter's New Zealand tour turned up the heat on Pope and he has faced near constant scrutiny ever since.

Centuries against Zimbabwe and India in his first two innings of the summer looked to shore up his spot, but diminishing returns in the subsequent months and the decision to remove him as vice-captain in September kept the debate very much alive.

Pope finally settled the matter last week by reeling off confident knocks of 100 and 90 in the warm-up against England Lions and can be all-but certain of facing down Australia on Friday.