This series against Sri Lanka grants fans a quick look into the crystal ball to see what an England side post-Stokes may look like.
Following a hamstring tear in a game for the Northern Superchargers - Stokes was soon ruled out of the rest of the English summer with eyes set on the Pakistan series later in the year.
Reactionary articles and decisions seem to have been quickly in the aftermath. Gus Atkinson was withdrawn from the rest of the Hundred to ensure his fitness for the first Test at Manchester.
In the interim, Ollie Pope was given the Kamala Harris treatment and promoted to captain on the team. Besides Stokes, not much has changed - Brendon McCullum is still the coach and ultimately the philosophy should stay the same.
Despite this, the feeling of an Ollie Pope will certainly feel different to a Stokes led team.
Whilst Pope has certainly had a number of highs over the course of his England career he is yet to reach the talismanic status that Ben Stokes has achieved. As a result, Stokes is able to captain the side with a lead-by-example approach - something which Pope can’t quite draw on himself yet.
Plenty of comparisons will be made regarding on-field decisions in this series but Pope is unlikely to rip up the rulebook of the conceived wisdom Bazball from the last few years. In that sense, Pope treads a fine line - this is an opportunity to audition for the full time role whenever it might become available.
The opposition in front of him is hardly a baptism of fire though.
Last week, Sri Lanka succumbed to a 7 wicket defeat by the England Lions at Worcester. The decline of the tour match of years gone by has meant that full strength county sides have been replaced with promising youngsters making up a Lions team. This game at Worcester marked the debut of two players to red ball cricket and even so managed to defeat the Sri Lankan Test side fairly comfortably. Not the strongest Test to Pope’s leadership.
Perfection in these 3 Tests is therefore expected to be a minimum for Pope.
Whilst there’s clearly much in his favour, it certainly won’t be all plain sailing. For one, Pope has lost Zak Crawley for the series due to a broken finger sustained during the 3rd Test against the West Indies and will therefore have a makeshift opener in the form of Dan Lawrence.
Secondly, the selectors will need to feed an adequate replacement for Stokes himself. Chris Woakes is likely to take on the all-rounder role and an extra bowler is likely to be picked.
Gary Kirsten used to say that replacing Jacques Kallis meant replacing two players and Ben Stokes holds the same value in the current England side.
In losing Stokes, England have lost their number 6 batter and their 4th seamer.
In all likelihood, Olly Stone should come into the side and Jamie Smith will come up the order but the balance of the side will be slightly off kilter without Stokes.
Ultimately, this is a great opportunity for Pope but also a chance to look beyond Stokes.
No matter his status in the hearts and minds of England fans, it’s clear to see that the side is perhaps overly reliant on him to produce magical moments. Some day, he won’t be there to look after the side any more so a younger player cutting his teeth in captaincy is perhaps no bad thing…
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