Revealed: Why are England players wearing black armbands in 1st Test against Sri Lanka

England National Cricket Team are locking horns with Sri Lanka National Cricket Team in the first match of the three-match Test series. The first game of the series between the teams kickstarted on Wednesday (21st August) at Old Trafford in Manchester.

The Sri Lank National Cricket Team won the toss and opted to bat first. As both the teams stepped into the field, one thing caught the attention of many. England National Cricket Team players were spotted wearing black armbands.

The reason behind that has now been revealed. The England National Cricket Team players are wearing black armbands to pay tribute to the late Graham Thorpe, who passed on August 4. Former coach of the team took his own life as he was suffering from major depression and anxiety.

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Graham Thorpe was a great servant for the England National Cricket Team across the formats. He mustered 9000 international runs across 182 international matches. Not only as a batter, he also served the Team as the coach as he was the longest-serving coach for the country, working with the likes of Joe Root and Ollie Pope.

Stand-in captain Ollie Pope, ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka National Cricket, said that they will be wearing the black armbands throughout the game. He added that Graham Thorpe's loss has hurt many in the dressing room. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, he explained:

"We'll have our black armbands on throughout the game and there'll be a tribute to him before. It's hurt a lot of people in that changing room. He was a great man. I probably had two or three years playing with him as a batting coach. I admired him."

Ollie Pope further talked about his relationship with Graham Thorpe, saying that the legend of the game also advised him not to get carried away by the runs that he scored and get changed as a person. Ye stated that is a huge loss for the country. He added:

"I remember him saying one thing to me, which was: 'Never let the runs you're scoring define you as a person'. In a bit of a rut when you're young, that was exactly what I needed to hear. It shows, for me, what a people's person he was."

"He was loved in the changing room. He's such a sad loss to everyone: to the country, his family and the boys as well. He's missed, and we'll honour him this week."

England and Sri Lanka playing 11 for the first Test

Coming to the first Test between England and Sri Lanka, the hosts are without the services of Ben Stokes, who suffered the injury during the Hundred League. Ollie Pope is captaining the team while Dan Lawrence will be opening the innings in place of Zak Crawley, who also will be missing the series. On the other hand, Milan Priyanath Rathnayake is making his Test debut for Sri Lanka.

England (Playing XI): Daniel Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope(c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal(w), Dhananjaya de Silva(c), Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Milan Priyanath Rathnayake