England will be without injured opener Zak Crawley for the upcoming Test series with Sri Lanka and have called up uncapped Jordan Cox alongside Olly Stone.
Crawley has been ruled out of the three-match series, which starts at Old Trafford on August 21, after fracturing the little finger on his right hand during the third Test win over the West Indies at Trent Bridge.
The 26-year-old Kent batter has cemented his name at the top of the order alongside Ben Duckett but will now switch his attention to being fit for the away Pakistan series in October, with Dan Lawrence set to open in his place.
Lawrence has been included in several England squads but has not played a Test since 2022. The 27-year-old has been in impressive form in Surrey’s middle order since his winter move from Essex, averaging 53.09 in the County Championship at a strike rate of 74.68 with two centuries and three fifties.
England made a number of changes to their side ahead of the West Indies series, handing Test debuts to Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith, and there is now a maiden call-up for Essex batter Cox.
Like Lawrence, the 23-year-old right-hander has been in excellent form this year following his move to Essex from Kent. He has scored 763 championship runs at an average of almost 70, with three hundreds and two fifties.
Cox has been involved in the England set-up previously after joining the white-ball tour of Pakistan in the autumn of 2022 and could now make his international bow against Sri Lanka.
Ready for some more Test Cricket? 😍
Two changes in the squad going into our Sr Lanka series 👇#EnglandCricket
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 4, 2024
However, uncapped seamer Dillon Pennington, who was in the squad for the 3-0 series win over the West Indies but did not feature, joins Crawley on the sidelines after sustaining a hamstring injury while playing in The Hundred.
He is replaced by Nottinghamshire team-mate Stone, who returns to the squad for the first time since June 2021 and will be looking to add to his three Test caps during the series, which also includes matches at Lord’s and the Kia Oval.
England squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka: Ben Stokes (cap), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
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