Crawley ruled out of Sri Lanka Tests; Cox gets maiden call-up
England opener Zak Crawley has been ruled out of the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka with a fractured finger. The 26-year-old had hurt his little finger while taking a catch in the slip in the Edgbaston Test against West Indies last week and is likely to be replaced in the Playing XI by Dan Lawrence.
Jordan Cox, the Essex batter, has earned a maiden Test call-up in the 14-man squad that will again be captained by Ben Stokes. The 23-year-old has hit three hundreds and scored 763 runs across 12 County Championship matches this season.
Pacer Olly Stone also makes a return to the squad, having last played a Test for England in June 2021. He comes into the squad for another pacer in Dillon Pennington, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury sustained during The Hundred.
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
The first of the three Tests against Sri Lanka will be played in Manchester from august 21.
© Cricbuzz
