I'm not arguing in favour of dropping Pope but Buttler was vice captain for a while and showed no ability to keep, bat in test matches, or offer any leadership
But the taking the wickets tonight is hypothetical.
I don't see any point in choosing to more under par than necessary for the sake of 4 overs. Especially as everything about the Aussies ( other than Head) shows a team who'd be happy to be keep us in the field for two days grinding out dull runs.
We had Root in, and a decent batter with him, and hitting their bowlers about. we could have got another 100. Even if not we could have done some damage to their bowlers confidence .You can play the attacking cricket without silly declarations
Can I ask where you've got this from as I've never seen it mentioned previously? Sky may want more England players playing in The Hundred, but that's a side issue. The ECB wanted the Hundred in the summer holidays for the kids and world cup prep