Ollie Pope has hit out at critics for suggesting England weren't "fussed" about winning the Ashes, even as he accepted the decision to drop him was the right one.

Pope failed to cross fifty in six attempts during the Ashes, and was benched for the fourth and fifth Tests, replaced in the XI by Jacob Bethell. A maiden first-class century by Bethell has potentially sidelined Pope from the No.3 slot.

Pope's form was one of England's many worries on the Australia trip. Criticism ranged from the lack of warm-up matches and a mid-series break in Noosa to on-field performances that resulted in a 4-1 series loss.

However, Pope insisted that their poor outings in no way suggested a lack of intent to win, despite backlash along those lines by critics.

"Going into that series, there was a lot spoken about the preparation of it," Pope said at Surrey's pre-season media day. "As a team, the misconception might be that we weren't as fussed as it came across.

"The tough thing for everyone in that first game was the nature of it. Had we won that, and we'd done slightly better on day two, the idea is different."

England's only win came in the fourth Test, but they had found themselves in a position of strength on the first day of the series itself, bowling out Australia for 132 after folding for 172 themselves. However, they ended up running into a bullish Travis Head, whose second-innings ton set the tone for a lopsided series.

"Of course we want to be a well-liked team, on and off the pitch, and unfortunately our performance didn't allow that to happen in Australia," Pope continued.

"I can understand why people felt that way, but at the same time the perception that we weren't fussed was probably the hard thing. All we wanted to do was go and win the Ashes. As individuals, everyone's trying to manage with the pressures of an Ashes series and trying to get the best out of their performance and doing what they can.

"All anyone wanted to do was to win. And for us at times it was just trying to, in our minds, take the pressure off the actual Test match."

Aside from Bethell, only Joe Root hit a century (twice), with the occasional resistance never really translating into a combined batting effort. Pope himself felt the decision to drop him was the right call.

"I knew where I stood," Pope admitted. "Getting dropped was tough, but it was the right decision at the time.

"The chats were just to go back and score a load of runs, then if I'm not in the England XI, make sure I'm the best batter in the country. If something happens, it's about making sure I'm the man to come in."

The 28-year-old, who was England's Test vice-captain until Harry Brook took over ahead of the Ashes, is still optimistic about his chances.

"I've played a lot of Test cricket, 64 Tests, but I still feel like my best batting years are to come."