England Captain Ben Stokes Calls Out 'Agenda', Defends Teammate Ollie Pope After Zimbabwe Ton

Ben Stokes came to the defence of Ollie Pope by saying the vice-captain's century against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge had answered an "agenda" against the Surrey batsman. England won the opening match of their 2025 home season by the commanding margin of an innings and 45 runs on Saturday as a one-off Test scheduled for four days was wrapped up before tea on the third. Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir applied the finishing touches in a Test-best haul of 6-81.

The course of the game had been set by three top-order hundreds from Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Pope, whose 171 was the biggest contribution of all to an England first-innings total of 565-6 declared.

Crawley and Pope had their places in the team called into question before the squad  arrived in Nottingham. Critics said their places would be under threat with rising star Jacob Bethell returning from the IPL ahead of the upcoming five-Test series at home to India.  

England captain Stokes fuelled the speculation when, in a pre-match press conference, he lauded Bethell and added: "I think you put two and two together and you probably know what's going to happen."

The all-rounder has since clarified his remarks by insisting he was suggesting Bethell would make an immediate return to the Test squad, rather than the playing XI.

"There's always someone going to be under the spotlight," Stokes told the BBC. "I've personally felt that it was a bit of –- not a vendetta -– but I got asked a simple question about Bethell.

"I said, 'put two and two together, he comes back into the squad' and then all of a sudden it turns into something that suits the agenda of the time.

"It is unfortunate that you say something and it can get twisted. I made it very clear to Popey the night before this