England’s Crawley breaks finger, misses Sri Lanka series

England opener Zak Crawley will miss the Test series against Sri Lanka owing to a broken finger. Crawley is out after breaking his right little finger when taking a catch in the third Test win over the West Indies. The 26-year-old will focus on conditioning for England’s October visit of Pakistan. Crawley’s absence means Dan Lawrence and Ben Duckett will open. Despite multiple England calls, Lawrence has not played a Test since 2022.

The 27-year-old moved from Essex to Surrey over the winter and has started the County Championship season well, averaging 53.09 at 74.68 with two hundreds and three fifties. Before the West Indies series, England gave Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith Test debuts, and Essex batsman Jordan Cox his maiden call-up. After joining England’s 2022 white-ball tour of Pakistan, the 23-year-old will likely make his international debut against Sri Lanka.

Uncapped seamer Dillon Pennington, who played in the 3-0 series win against the West Indies, joins Crawley on the sidelines after injuring his hamstring in The Hundred for Northern Superchargers. The English summer may be without Pennington. The Nottinghamshire seam bowler Olly Stone returns to the Test team for the first time since 2021, looking to add to his three caps. The first Test against Sri Lanka is at Old Trafford on August 21, the second at Lord’s, and the third at The Oval.

Team England for Sri Lanka Tests: Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Ben Stokes (capt), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Ducket