Alastair Cook has urged England to keep faith with Ollie Pope at No. 3 for the Ashes, rather than taking a "gamble" on Jacob Bethell.

England's first-choice top seven has been unchanged for over a year, but Bethell's emergence in New Zealand last November when Jamie Smith was on paternity leave put significant pressure on Pope's position at No. 3. Pope responded with hundreds against Zimbabwe and India at the start of the 2025 summer, but only made one half-century in his next eight innings.

Bethell made 6 and 5 in his only Test appearance of the summer , deputising for the injured Ben Stokes at The Oval, but scored half-centuries in each of his first three Tests last year. He will have the chance to push his case in six white-ball fixtures against New Zealand from Saturday, but C

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