All the things you might want to know as England start a three-match Take a look at collection towards Sri Lanka, dwell on Sky Sports activities…

England vs Sri Lanka first Take a look at – comply with dwell updates

When and the place are the Assessments going down – and the way can I watch?

England play Sri Lanka from August 21 by to September 10, with each match dwell on Sky Sports activities and a dwell 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• First Take a look at: Emirates Outdated Trafford, Manchester – August 21-25 (11am begin)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 will probably be with out captain Ben Stokes for the collection after he suffered a summer-ending hamstring damage enjoying in The Hundred for Northern Superchargers, so Ollie Pope will lead the facet for the primary time with Harry Brook as his deputy.

The hosts may also may also be lacking opener Zak Crawley as a consequence of a fractured finger, with Dan Lawrence, often a middle-order batter, to open alongside Ben Duckett.

England may have handed uncapped Essex batter Jordan Cox a debut following Stokes’ damage however have as a substitute opted to bolster the bowling assault with Durham seamer Matthew Potts recalled.

Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith will leap 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 abruptly have Pope are available in and be a bit timid and alter the plans. The continuity, the messaging, will probably be completely the identical. He will not change any of that.

“I do not suppose [captaincy] comes as naturally to him because it does for Stokes. I see him as a little bit of a worrier, so he has to bluff a bit of bit. However he is been introduced up within the college of Stokes and [Test coach Brendon] McCullum, so he’ll simply proceed the messaging.”

Former England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan:

“I would think about Pope will probably be inspired to make massive contributions within the closing say of the XI but in addition in whether or not you must bat and bowl, and to ring modifications all through the course of the 5 days.

“Stokes is the form 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.

“He’ll persist with them longer than some other captain I’ve watched and instil that belief only a few captains have, put them in lots of dropping positions with a consequence of successful.

“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 perimeters been performing?

England enter the collection following a 3-0 sweep towards West Indies in July, successful 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, successful a two-match collection 1-0. They secured a 100-run victory at Headingley after the primary recreation at Lord’s was drawn.

Sri Lanka have gained three of their final 4 Take a look at collection, beating Eire 2-0 at house in April 2023, successful 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 beneath means at Emirates Outdated Trafford in Manchester on Wednesday. Watch dwell on Sky Sports activities Cricket from 10am (first ball at 11am).