England have put their faith in a five-man bowling attack for the first Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford this week, handing Matthew Potts a recall and asking Chris Woakes to play as a designated all-rounder in the absence of Ben Stokes.
Stokes was present at training on Monday but, while the crutches required after he tore his hamstring during the Hundred were no longer on show, the 33-year-old will still be supporting Ollie Pope – plus a new vice-captain in Harry Brook – from the sidelines for the three-match series that gets under way on Wednesday.
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The question of who will open after Zak Crawley broke his finger has been known for some time – Dan Lawrence steps into what is an unfamiliar role – but the balance that Stokes brings to the XI as a genuine all-rounder is not so easily overcome. As well as his offering respite to the quicks and shielding a rookie spinner such as Shoaib Bashir in the first innings, England have lost his wicket-taking threat as a swing bowler.
One option was to hand a debut to Jordan Cox at No 6 and hope a four-man attack could still prise out 20 wickets. Instead, Stokes and Brendon McCullum, the head coach, have opted to bolster Pope’s bowling options, handing Potts a first cap since the start of last summer and backing Woakes to perform a dual role with bat and ball. After a vital 62 against West Indies at Edgbaston in his last outing, Woakes is in form.
Without Stokes in the XI, Woakes averages 32 with the bat compared with 27 overall – a jump bolstered by a Test century at No 7 against India in 2018 – while a bowling average of 25 is also three runs lower. Little wonder England wrapped the 35-year-old in cotton wool after Stokes’s injury, withdrawing him from the Hundred, not simply because he finished the 3-0 win against West Indies with a sore quad.
Overall, it represents another bold selection from England, not least given Lawrence’s role at the top of the order. The right-hander has been carrying the drinks for the past 17 England Tests and thought his wrong-footed whirlygig off-breaks might be his best route into the side. Instead, this first cap since the last throes of Joe Root’s captaincy in early 2022 is a case of taking on the new ball alongside Ben Duckett.
England (confirmed): Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook (vice-captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir.
“It is not necessarily a career move,” said Lawrence, who has opened just seven times in first-class cricket, including an unbeaten 53 from 34 balls for Surrey this season. “But I have said before that if I get the chance to play for England again, I’d bat at No 11 if I had to. So I’m just going to enjoy these few weeks and hopefully score some runs and put my name in the hat for future selection.”
Asked about recent criticism of the move, including concern from the former captain Michael Vaughan that England were “prioritising personality over ability”, Lawrence replied: “Well, thankfully it’s not up to me to make those decisions. I got asked to open the batting and I’m definitely going to say yes. Obviously people are going to have their opinions, but I’m chuffed to get the opportunity.”
While it forces Jamie Smith to move a spot higher at No 6 in just his fourth Test as wicketkeeper, the return of Potts will offset the loss of Stokes in the field. Able to bowl long spells – his fitness sits in stark contrast to that of the overlooked Ollie Robinson, for example – Potts should allow England’s two outright quicks, Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson, to continue operating in the shorter bursts that rattled West Indies.
The 25-year-old’s six caps have all come at home but there were signs of increasing promise on overseas surfaces last winter as he claimed 20 wickets at 17 runs apiece for England Lions during the three-match “Test” series in India. The elevation of Brook to vice-captain also highlights England’s desire to look to the future, even if Pope will doubtless draw on the experience of Root and Woakes out in the middle.
Despite the selection rejig brought about by injuries to two regulars, England remain heavy favourites. Sri Lanka are playing red-ball cricket on these shores for the first time since a 2-0 defeat in 2016 and endured a seven-wicket defeat this past week against a youthful Lions XI during their solitary warm-up match at New Road, Worcester.
Dhananjaya de Silva’s tourists have greater experience of batting against the Dukes ball in England than that recent West Indies team, at least, with Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal all part of the Sri Lanka team that secured a famous 1-0 victory against Alastair Cook’s side 10 years ago. Mathews, whose remarkable 160 turned the Headingley Test that summer, said: “I watched those two matches a couple of days ago and they brought back fond memories; it gives us the hope of winning in England. We just have to be positive and aggressive because if we go on the back foot [England] will put their foot on us.”
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