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The first Test match between Sri Lanka and England will be played in Manchester. England has announced its playing eleven for this Test match. The team's regular captain Ben Stokes will not play the match due to a muscle strain. Apart from this, Jack Crowley has also been ruled out of this match due to a finger injury.
Matthew Potts has returned to the England Test team after a year. He played his last Test match in June 2023. Matthew Potts has played 6 Test matches for England so far. However, he is a part of England's ODI team. Dan Lawrence has also returned to the team. He will be seen as an opening batsman.
Ollie Pope was made captain
England has appointed young batsman Ollie Pope as the captain in the first Test match against Sri Lanka. He will lead the team in place of Ben Stokes. Harry Brook will be seen as the vice-captain of the team. Harry Brook has impressed everyone with his recent performance.
The morale of the England team is very high at this time. They defeated West Indies 3-0 in the Test series. In such a situation, their effort will be to improve their ranking in the World Test Championship by defeating Sri Lanka. They are currently in sixth place. However, they may face a lot of difficulties in the absence of Ben Stokes.
If the route could become history
Joe Root was in great form in the series against West Indies. He scored a century and two half-centuries in this series. In such a situation, he will also be eyeing to make a big record in the Sri Lanka series. He is 402 runs away from the figure of 5000 in the World Test Championship. In such a situation, he would like to achieve this feat in this series as well.
England's playing XI for the first Test against Sri Lanka
Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brooke (vice-captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir.