The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Monday, announced their Playing XI for the first Test of the three-match home series against Sri Lanka, scheduled to begin on August 21.
England made two forced changes to their Playing XI as their Test skipper Ben Stokes and opener Zak Crawley were sidelined due to injuries.
Stokes suffered a hamstring injury during The Hundred fixture between Manchester Originals and Northern Superchargers.
He underwent scans in Leeds last week and it was determined that he will miss the three-match home series against Sri Lanka.
Crawley, on the other hand, was ruled out of the series due to a fractured finger. He sustained the injury while attempting a catch in England’s last Test of the three-match series against West Indies.
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Stokes will be replaced by Durham seamer Matthew Potts, who made his return to the team for the first time since June 2023 while Dan Lawrence will open the innings for the home side.
“With Ben Stokes (hamstring) and Zak Crawley (finger) both missing through injury, Durham seamer Matthew Potts returns to the side for the first time since June 2023. Surrey batter Dan Lawrence will open the batting in Crawley’s absence,” ECB stated.
Young middle-order batter Harry Brook has been named England’s vice-captain and will support interim captain Ollie Pope.
“Yorkshire middle-order batter Harry Brook has been named vice-captan for the three-match series and will support captain Ollie Pope,” ECB added.
England XI for the first Test vs Sri Lanka: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook (vc), Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir.
Sri Lanka Squad: Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (vc), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Nisala Tharaka, Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milan Rathnayake.
READ: Pakistan unveil Playing XI for first Test against Bangladesh