Sri Lanka will be playing a Test match in England after eight long years, with a hope to win. The hosts have a strong team but the unavailability of their skipper Ben Stokes will surely be a void. Ollie Pope will be taking the charge and leading the England Cricket Team.
Former England captain Joe Root, is at his top form currently, Harry Brook will also be part of the squad and play the role of deputy to Pope. Jamie Smith is also an incredible talent that has emerged and proven himself in the recent Test series against West Indies.
In recent developments, Sri Lanka has named Ian Bell as their batting coach for series against England, this will surely be an asset as his expertise about England pitches would help players identify the strengths and loopholes.
“We appointed Ian to bring in a person with local knowledge to help the players with key insights on the conditions there,” Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Ashley de Silva said.
“We believe his inputs will help our team in this crucial tour.”
Sri Lanka would need an extra batsmen as major dependency is on Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal.
Both the teams have played 36 Test matches out of which England has won 17, which means that the hosts remain on the dominant side. Sri Lanka will have to put in extra effort in order to win the series.
Pitch Report
Old Trafford’s pitch typically benefits batsmen, which is why both teams are fielding pace-heavy line-ups. At present, the surface provides minimal support for spinners, though weather changes, particularly rain, could modify pitch conditions by the third or fourth day of the match.
Weather Report
Rain is expected on the in the first session of opening day, rest of day the match will remain unaffected. Day 2 and Day 3 is likely to have some splashes according to the weather report for the next three days.
Test match schedule
21-25 August, 2024: 1st Test, Old Trafford, Manchester
29 August – 2 September 2024: 2nd Test, Lord’s – London
6-10 September 2024: 3rd Test, The Oval – London
Test live streaming details
The England vs Sri Lanka Test series will be telecasted on the Sony Sports network and streamed live through the SonyLiv App in India.
Squad details
England Playing XI for 1st Test vs 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 Wood, Shoaib Bashir
England squad for 1st Test vs Sri Lanka: Ollie Pope (captain), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
Sri Lanka squad for England Test series: 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.
