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England take on Sri Lanka at Old Trafford on Wednesday and several players have been given a chance to prove themselves after captain Ben Stokes was ruled out of the series due to injury.
Star all-rounder Stokes tore his hamstring during the hundred and will not play in the three matches.
It means England will be without their spiritual leader for the first time since Stokes and coach Brendan McComb launched the team’s vibrant ‘hoops’ era two years ago.
England vice-captain Ollie Pope will now captain the side despite having only managed Surrey in one top-flight match.
England announced their squad on Monday, with fast bowler Matthew Potts recalled as they opted for a five-man attacking formation.
Meanwhile, Dan Lawrence – rarely used as an opener in county cricket – returned to the England squad for the first time in two-and-a-half years after Zak Crawley’s broken finger left the opener position vacant.
Last month, England beat the West Indies 3-0 and Crawley suffered a setback.
England will be hoping for a similar result against Sri Lanka, who, like the West Indies, have played just one warm-up match before the first Test.
Under the guidance of former New Zealand captain McCullum, England’s attacking strategy has made little reference to conventional cricketing wisdom, so it is no surprise that they chose not to use a specialist opener to replace Crawley.
In fact, Lawrence himself has no doubt that his natural attacking style is very suitable for England’s current formation.
“I think that’s the style of cricket that Buzz McCullum and Ben Stokes are going for, whereas my normal approach is to try to be as aggressive as possible,” Lawrence said on Monday.
“I’ve played a certain type of cricket throughout my career and it’s served me well, so I’m going to do the same thing. I’m just going to go out there and be as free as I can.”
– experience –
Although Sri Lanka will no longer be able to field star batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, they do have experienced players like Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne in their lineup.
However, Dhananjaya de Silva’s side can turn to another Sri Lankan great in the form of the team’s interim coach Sanat Jayasuriya, who took over as the team’s head coach after former England fast bowler Chris Silverwood chose not to renew his contract in June.
Former England batsman Ian Bell is also part of the backroom staff and will provide local knowledge to Sri Lanka’s first series on English soil in eight years.
Sri Lanka last played Test cricket in April, but they did have some record-breaking experience recently, beating India 2-0 in a three-match one-day international series earlier this month.
“We have an experienced batting line-up,” Jayasuriya, the dynamic batsman who has frustrated England’s attack in every format, told ESPNCricinfo.
“Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal – they have all played a lot of cricket.”
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s first Test match in England, a match played at home where Sidath Wettimuny scored a brilliant 190, one of several hundred by the tourists, and received great praise.
Jayasuriya believes that the timing of the current move could be in Sri Lanka’s favour.
“It’s great that we can have a Tour in late summer,” he said. “This Tour is closer to our situation than the Tour in early summer.”
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