England have confirmed playing XI for the second Test against Sri Lankawith a marked change in the bowling attack. The name pacer has been prepared to replace the injured Mark Woodwas ruled out for the remainder of the series due to a right muscle strain. This change is the only change made by the hosts for the second Test of the three-match series starting on August 29 at Lord’s.
Substitution of Mark Wood
Right arm fast bowler Olly StoneAppeared during the home series against England in June 2021 New ZealandHe is set to return to Test cricket. Stone, 30, played three Test matches for England and took 10 wickets at an average of 19.40. His inclusion comes after Wood, a key part of England’s pace attack, suffered a hamstring injury on the third day of the Old Trafford Test against Sri Lanka.
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The ECB’s selection strategy
Initially, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) called the left-arm seamer Josh Hull As a substitute for Wood. However, Hull was not included in the squad for the Lord’s Test. Instead, England opted for the experienced Stone, who was originally part of the squad but was dropped for County Championship duties alongside the non-capped batter. Jordan Cox.
Injury impact and squad update
England have suffered several injury setbacks leading up to this Test. captain Ben Stokes Yüz 2024 and is sidelined due to injury in the opening game Zach Crawley does not exist due to a broken finger that occurred during West India Tests. Despite these challenges, the rest of the squad remains unchanged from the first Test. Dan LawrenceReplaced Crawley as the opener and retained his position after scoring 30 and 34 in the series opener.
England XI for 2nd Test vs Sri Lanka:
Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Olly Stone, Shoaib Bashir
