All the things it’s good to know as England start a three-match Take a look at collection towards Sri Lanka, stay on Sky Sports activities…
When and the place are the Assessments going down – and the way can I watch?
England play Sri Lanka from August 21 by means of to September 10, with each match stay on Sky Sports activities and a stay rolling weblog that includes rating updates, video highlights and pundit evaluation to run on skysports.com and the Sky Sports activities app.
- First Take a look at: Emirates Previous Trafford, Manchester – August 21-25 (11am begin)
- Second Take a look at: Lord’s, London – August 29-September 2 (11am begin)
- Third Take a look at: The Kia Oval, London – September 6-10 (11am begin
Who’s within the England XI for first Take a look at?
England can be with out captain Ben Stokes for the collection after he suffered a summer-ending hamstring harm taking part in in The Hundred for Northern Superchargers, so Ollie Pope will lead the aspect for the primary time with Harry Brook as his deputy.
The hosts can even can even be lacking opener Zak Crawley because of a fractured finger, with Dan Lawrence, normally a middle-order batter, to open alongside Ben Duckett.
England might have handed uncapped Essex batter Jordan Cox a debut following Stokes’ harm however have as an alternative opted to bolster the bowling assault with Durham seamer Matthew Potts recalled.
Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith will bounce up a spot to No 6, with Chris Woakes promoted to No 7.
England XI to face Sri Lanka: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook (vice-captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wooden, Shoaib Bashir
Pundits on Pope taking the captaincy
Former England captain Nasser Hussain:
“You are not going to all of a sudden have Pope are available in and be a bit timid and alter the plans. The continuity, the messaging, can be completely the identical. He will not change any of that.
“I don’t think [captaincy] comes as naturally to him as it does for Stokes. I see him as a bit of a worrier, so he has to bluff a little bit. But he’s been brought up in the school of Stokes and [Test coach Brendon] McCullum, so he will just continue the messaging.”
Former England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan:
“I’d imagine Pope will be encouraged to make big contributions in the final say of the XI but also in whether you should bat and bowl, and to ring changes throughout the course of the five days.
“Stokes is the type of Take a look at captain that does not let the sport settle, for any interval. He’ll make a left-field name right here or there. Significantly with younger gamers coming by means of.
“He’ll stick with them longer than any other captain I’ve watched and instil that trust very few captains have, put them in a lot of losing positions with a consequence of winning.
“Only a few captains early on of their profession will do this. However I would think about Brendon, and others within the altering room, will reiterate what the workforce is about and assist Ollie alongside.”
How have the edges been performing?
England enter the collection following a 3-0 sweep towards West Indies in July, profitable the primary Take a look at at Lord’s by an innings and 114 runs, the second at Trent Bridge by 241 runs and the third at Edgbaston by 10 wickets.
Quick bowler Gus Atkinson introduced himself in worldwide red-ball cricket with 22 wickets throughout the three video games.
Sri Lanka head into the collection recent from a historic one-day worldwide collection victory over India, their first over that opposition within the format since 1997.
Six gamers from Sri Lanka’s ODI squad – Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kamindu Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay and Asitha Fernando – have been included within the Take a look at squad.
Sri Lanka final beat England in a Take a look at collection in 2014, profitable a two-match collection 1-0. They secured a 100-run victory at Headingley after the primary sport at Lord’s was drawn.
Sri Lanka have received three of their final 4 Take a look at collection, beating Eire 2-0 at house in April 2023, profitable a one-off match towards Afghanistan in February of this 12 months after which triumphing 2-0 in Bangladesh in March.
England’s three-Take a look at collection towards Sri Lanka will get below method at Emirates Previous Trafford in Manchester on Wednesday. Watch stay on Sky Sports activities Cricket from 10am (first ball at 11am).