England batter Ollie Pope will be leading his national side for the first time in Test cricket as he gets ready to take on Sri Lanka in the first game of three-match series beginning at the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester on Wednesday (August 21). Pope has been been elevated to the captaincy position with regular skipper Ben Stokes sidelined for the summer with injury.
Sri Lanka have a massive task at their hand, not having played in a Test match since April this year. England desperately need to turn their form around in the ICC World Test Championships (WTC) as they are languishing in 6th position on the points table currently.
The hosts will bank on the form of former skipper Joe Root, who has already notched up over 1,000 runs in the current WTC cycle. With Ollie Pope leading the side, Harry Brook has been elevated to the position of vice-captain for the series.
For Sri Lanka, Dimuth Karunaratne and Nishan Madushka will open for the visitors against England in the first Test match of the series. Meanwhile, Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews will play in the middle order. Star pacer Matheesha Pathirana was not named in the first eleven after he suffered an injury during their ODI series against India.
The second match of the series will be played at Lord’s, starting from August 29. Meanwhile, the final Test match of the series will take place at Kennington Oval on September 6.
England are coming to play against Sri Lanka after a 3-0 series sweep against the Windies to move up to 6th place in the World Test Championship standings and will be keen to keep that momentum going against Sri Lanka.
First Test Loading @EmiratesOT #ENGvSL | #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/wqTE1no4n6
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 20, 2024
Here are all the details about England vs Sri Lanka 1st Test…
The England vs Sri Lanka 1st Test will take place from August 21 to 25.
The England vs Sri Lanka 1st Test will be held at the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester, England.
The England vs Sri Lanka 1st Test Day 1 will begin at at 330pm IST. The toss for the match will be held at 3pm.
The England vs Sri Lanka 1st Test will be available LIVE on Sony Sports Network on TV in India.
The England vs Sri Lanka 1st Test will be available for livestreaming for free on SonyLiv and Fancode website and app.
England: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama/Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara/Kasun Rajitha, Asitha Fernando
