Pope said the team was focused on winning the Ashes and described the first Test in Perth as a crucial moment.“Going into that series, a lot was said about the preparation for it,” Pope told reporters. “As a team, the misconception may have been that we weren’t as upset as we came across.”Speaking at Surrey’s media day, the 28-year-old said the early Test results shaped the narrative.“The difficult thing for everyone in that first game (Test) was the nature of it. If we had won that, and we had performed a little better on the second day, the thought would have been different.“Obviously we want to be a popular team on and off the pitch and unfortunately our performances haven’t allowed that to happen in Australia.”Pope said, “I can understand why people felt that way, but at the same time the notion that we weren’t bothered was probably the hard thing. We just wanted to go and win the Ashes… anybody just wanted to win.”“And for us at times it was just trying to take the pressure off our minds from the actual Test match.”Even before the series started, questions were being raised about England’s preparation in Australian conditions. Their build-up included a three-day match against the England Lions at Lilac Hill, Perth.“As we’ve done in years past, we tried to treat it like a normal series to get the best out of ourselves,” Pope said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned.”He added, “I knew I needed to be as prepared as I could be. Personally, I felt I was as prepared as I could be for that first Test.”Pope was dropped after the third Test, having averaged 20.83 in the first three matches. Jacob Bethel replaced him and scored a century in the fifth Test in Sydney.Despite the setback, Pope said his focus was on returning to the team.“I still think my best batting years are ahead of me.”He was speaking after the ECB reversed plans to ban Ashes players from speaking to the media ahead of the county season while a review of the tour continues.