England XI to face Sri Lanka:
Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir
The whole series is live on Sky Sports as England aim to build on July’s 3-0 sweep of West Indies, in which Pope scored a sixth Test hundred, as well as two half-centuries.
The stand-in skipper, who will have fellow batter Harry Brook as his vice-captain, said: “I am sat next to [Stokes] in the changing room and it will be great to have him around.”
Pope won’t ‘overcomplicate’ during England captaincy: “It is still Stokesy’s team and if I want to lean on him I can, but I think he will let me do my own thing. He will be watching and chat with Baz [Test coach Brendon McCullum] so I can have those conversations in the intervals if I think something needs to change.”
“I know how well he has managed our bowlers especially, so I have picked his brains on it, but it will be a lot of the same messages with a different voice and in my own way. It’s about not overcomplicating it for me.”
It’s unfortunate that we have had to make these changes due to injuries, but it’s part and parcel of the game. Potts has bowled his heart out for England before and I have full confidence in him to do the job again.
We have a strong squad and everyone is ready to step up and contribute to the team’s success. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to show what they can do and I’m looking forward to seeing how we perform in this series.