Ollie Pope will undergo a scan on his left shoulder on Tuesday morning after leaving the field in the second over of Pakistan’s second innings in the third Test at the Ageas Bowl.
Pope, who spent three months sidelined last summer after dislocating the same shoulder playing for Surrey, slid to save a boundary off the second ball of Stuart Broad’s first over of the fourth day and left the pitch almost immediately.
He stayed off the field throughout the day, with James Bracey on as a substitute fielder in his place. With the majority of England’s squad having left the biosecure bubble to play for their counties, that meant their assistant coach, Paul Collingwood, had to put on his whites to carry drinks for the rest of the day.
“He’s obviously banged his shoulder again, so he will go for a scan on that, and we’ll assess from there, really,” Chris Silverwood, England’s head coach, said. “We’ll know more once he’s had a scan.”
Pope’s shoulder injury last summer ruled him out of Ashes contention, though he later told Wisden Cricket Monthly that it had been a “blessing in disguise”, allowing him to take a step back from the game and make changes to his technique.