Matthew Potts was announced as a replacement for Ben Stokes in the starting XI for England’s first Test match against Sri Lanka, while Harry Brook was handed the vice-captain role to support caretaker captain Ollie Pope in the series.
Potts, who played the last of six Tests in the one-off Test against Ireland last summer, was named in the starting XI ahead of pacy Ollie Stone and inexperienced batsman Jordan Cox, after Stokes suffered a thigh injury in the Men’s Hundred that ruled him out for the entire summer.
Potts, 25, is Stokes’ team-mate at Durham and Northern Superchargers and will be in ninth place for Wednesday’s clash at Emirates Old Trafford. That means Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson move up the order, taking sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
Potts is not an all-rounder, but he is a handy lower-order batsman, as was his unbeaten 149 against Warwickshire earlier this season, his maiden first-class century. Nevertheless, the selection adds to the unique character of the XI, which includes Dan Lawrence as the opener after Zak Crawley suffered a finger injury in the last Test against the West Indies.
uk: 1 Dan Lawrence, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope (c), 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jamie Smith (above), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Matthew Potts, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Shoaib Bashir
