England playing XI for 1st Test against Sri Lanka announced, Harry Brook named vice-captain

England have named their playing XI for the first Test against Sri Lanka, which will start on August 21 in Manchester. They are without their skipper Ben Stokes who injured his hamstring while playing for the Northern Superchargers in The Men's Hundred.

In the absence of Stokes, Ollie Pope will lead the side and Harry Brook will be the vice-captain three-match series. Also injured is Zak Crawley who will miss the first Test with a broken finger.

Durham seamer Matthew Potts returns to the side for the first time since June 2023 while Surrey batter Dan Lawrence will open the batting in Crawley's absence.

England had previously stated that Dan Lawrence would open the batting in place of Zak Crawley, who fractured his finger in the final Test match against the West Indies. They also previously announced that Ollie Pope will captain the side in Stokes' absence, becoming the 82nd player to captain England in a men's Test. Harry Brook will fill in as vice-captain during the series.

Stokes, playing for the Northern Superchargers, was forced to retire hurt during the chase against Manchester Originals. He was helped off the field with the support of people on either side with him clutching his left hamstring, and was later spotted moving around with the help of crutches after the game. His skipper Harry Brook later confirmed the injury could be bad.

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The two teams are standing very differently when it comes to playing Test cricket. England have recently won a Test series against West Indies. Sri Lanka last played Test cricket in April 2024. The Lankans are placed fourth while England is seventh heading into this Test series.

Sri Lanka playing at home will be definitely tested and this is England's best chance to move up the table and possibly stay within the top three. They are now on 57 points and a series win can definitely help them get close to Australia and India.

The England captain has hit out in response to comments coming in concerning his hamstring injury. Scott Wilson a writer in a UK-based publication criticised Stokes for playing in the Hundred over County Championship matches. He termed this stance from Stokes as Utterly Farcical to add insult to injury on the part of Stokes.

Chief Sports Writer???
I played 3 Championship games for Durham this year https://t.co/ni40mB0i6m

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) August 14, 2024

"So Ben Stokes isn't allowed to play any county cricket for #Durham during the summer, but he's fine to mess about in the circus that is the Hundred, rupturing his hamstring and ruling him out for the rest of the summer. Utterly farcical," Wilson tweeted.

"Chief Sports Writer??? I played 3 Championship games for Durham this year," said Stokes in response silencing his critics in the process. This is the second major injury Stokes picked up in recent times after he had had troubles with his left knee in the past for which he underwent surgery as well.

England Playing XI For 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.

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