Michael Vaughan brutally attacks 'insecure' Ollie Pope again: 'Ideal vice-captain, not captaincy material'

Former England National Cricket Team captain Michael Vaughan has doubled down on his insecure jibe at Ollie Pope and labeled him as a good vice-captain who isn't good enough to become the full-time captain.

The 26-year-old Ollie Pope has become one of the most talked about names in English cricket at present, not due to his brilliant performances, but actually due to his failures as a batter.

Ollie Pope, who was the designated vice-captain of the Test team, was appointed as the captain of England for the home Test series against the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team after Ben Stokes got ruled out of the English summer after suffering a hamstring tear in the Hundred.

The captaincy, however, has done no good to Ollie Pope, the batter, as he has failed miserably so far in the first two Tests against Sri Lanka.

In the series-opening clash in Manchester, he registered twin 6s, before scoring 1 & 17 in the Lord's Test. Amid poor form, two things going in Ollie Pope's favor are that he has received good backing from Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, and England won both Tests against Sri Lanka to take an unassailable 2-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Michael Vaughan was very blunt in his assessment of Ollie Pope, and speaking on BBC Test Match Special, he said that he doesn't like Pope as captain as he is an insecure human being and isn't fit for the job. The stand-in skipper fired back at Vaughan's comments, saying that he wasn't surprised by the criticism from former cricketers and he just needs to block outside noise.

Now with his latest column for The Telegraph, Vaughan has launched a new attack on Pope, saying that every vice-captain can't become a captain, citing his example when he was captain and Trescothick was vice-captain. He elaborated:

"Ollie Pope is the ideal vice-captain for England. Pope is that perfect foil for Ben Stokes. He is a very good guy, trains well, and is a real team man – someone who can give tactical advice when required and is happy in the background. But he is better kept in that role, as vice-captain, than elevated to captain.

"Not every vice-captain is going to make a captain. There are also a lot of captains who cannot be vice-captains, myself included. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be making the decision. I did not want to be the thoughtful strategist in the background," he added.

But I think he is someone who is a bit insecure - Michael Vaughan on Ollie Pope

Michael Vaughan didn't stop there as he once again called Ollie Pope an insecure human and added that the ECB only gave him vice-captaincy to give him a boost.

"I would be happy to be proven wrong on Pope. But I think he is someone who is a bit insecure. I can see why they gave him the vice-captaincy to give him a boost, but he really did not need the captaincy at this stage of his career," Vaughan added.

Michael Vaughan once again backed Harry Brook as the future captain of the England team, saying that he looks like the natural successor of Ben Stokes. Vaughan also urged the ECB not to give captaincy to Ollie Pope even when Stokes is injured and suggested that they hand the responsibility to Joe Root, the former captain, on an interim basis. He stated:

"Looking ahead, Harry Brook would be a better fit as captain for this side: his whole approach makes him a natural successor to Stokes. But if there is another interim period when Stokes is injured and there are concerns about whether Brook is ready, what is wrong with giving the captaincy to Joe Root? It would not be backward step.

"Pope has the best player England have ever had sitting next to him in the dressing room. He should go and sit with Root and try to work out a process that he can deliver on a day-to-day basis."