The England cricket team is going to play a three-match Test series at home against Sri Lanka from August 21. England’s Test captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the series due to injury, Ollie Pope will be seen captaining in place of the all-rounder. Meanwhile, the host team has announced the playing 11 for the first Test match against Sri Lanka.

In place of Jack Crowley, Dan Lawrence will be seen opening with Ben Duckett in the series. Let us tell you, Jack Crowley was injured in the Test series against West Indies. At the same time, Dan Lawrence has got a place in the team after two full years.

Ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka, Lawrence said he was just waiting for an opportunity and it has finally come. He stressed that he will score runs and put his claim for selection in the future.

Hopefully I will score some runs – Dan Lawrence

Dan Lawrence, speaking on ESPNcricinfo, said,

I was just waiting for an opportunity and wherever it was I wanted to grab it. So I’ll just enjoy these few weeks and hopefully score some runs and put myself in contention for selection in the future.

Dan Lawrence made his Test debut against Sri Lanka and then came on the tour of India in 2021, but could not perform well. Dan scored 149 runs in 6 innings, after which he did not get a chance again. Speaking further, Lawrence said,

I think in my first stint I showed glimpses of what I can do. I was definitely inconsistent. There were some glimpses of what I can do and some low scores. But I think that was due to being very young. I was not fully confident about my game at that time and it was all very challenging. So I want to make a fresh start.

England’s playing 11 for the first Test against Sri Lanka

Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook (vice-captain), Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir