Pope walked back to the dressing room after spending some time on the ground, clearly in pain with his right shoulder. He had dived to stop a boundary off Marnus Labuschagne’s outside edge, but fallen awkwardly on his right side, with his shoulder baring the brunt of the impact.

England issued an update later in the day that Pope was being assessed by their medical team to determine the extent of his injury. While he did not field for the rest of play on Day One and did not take to the field on the morning of Day Two, it is expected that Pope will be able to bat when required. Given that his injury was an external injury, the time Pope has spent off the field will not count against him coming into bat. Therefore he is expected to be available to bat as early as England need him to when their innings begins.

If Pope’s injury had been too great to allow him to bat, or if it continues to hamper him throughout the game, it would be a significant blow to England. Ben Stokes won the toss and put Australia into bat on the morning of Day One, but the bowlers struggled to make regular inroads into Australia’s order, meaning they finished the day on 339-5. Two quick wickets this morning (Day Two) have brought England back into the contest, however, and Pope could be required to bat sooner rather than later.

Ollie Pope is off the field after hurting his right shoulder and is currently being assessed by the England medical team 🙏 pic.twitter.com/T9DNovXRDo

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 28, 2023

Pope has previously suffered from shoulder injuries, albeit on his left shoulder rather than his right. He first suffered a dislocation while playing for Surrey in 2019, having made his England debut the previous summer. He picked up an identical injury while fielding in the third Test of England’s home series against Pakistan in 2020. The injury required surgery to rectify and kept Pope on the sidelines for four months.

Since then, Pope has secured his Test position at No.3 and averages 52.14 with the bat so far this year. The last time he played a Test at Lord’s, against Ireland earlier this month, he scored a maiden double-century, helping England to secure a dominant victory.