England opener Ben Duckett lauded stand-in skipper Ollie Pope as the right-hander scored a fine knock of 154 runs off just 156 balls in the first innings of the third Test match against Sri Lanka at Kennington Oval, London on Friday.

Pope was criticised by many English pundits when he could not deliver the goods in the first two Test matches. England’s number three had returned with scores of 1 and 17 in the second Test match against Sri Lanka at Lords, which the hosts won by 190 runs to take an impregnable lead of 2-0 in the series.

Pope had returned with scores of 6 and 6 in the opening Test match at Old Trafford, Manchester, which the home team won by five wickets. Duckett, who also scored a fine knock of 86 runs on Friday, said there shouldn’t have been a lot of noise regarding Pope’s form and leadership.

Duckett said as quoted by Sky Sports, “Everyone’s so happy for anyone’s success in this dressing room. It is an incredible place to be. There shouldn’t be but there has been lots of noise. He has had a better summer than I have and to block that out and score an incredible 100 was so good, you could see that from his emotions.”

On the other hand, former England veteran fast bowler Stuart Broad feels it is imperative for the bowlers to get their line and length right while bowling to Pope at the start of the innings when he could be a bit vulnerable.

“Most importantly for him, he came back to The Oval. 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. If he could have wished to bat anywhere today, even in these conditions, it would have been The Oval,” Broad elaborated.

“He is a high-quality player, plays beautiful shots, and when you are bowling at batters like him you have to get it right early. He was averaging seven and all the talk was about him. Now it won’t be,” he added.

England posted 325 runs in the first innings whereas Sri Lanka were 211-5 at stumps on the second day.