England set to fly out for tour of Sri Lanka

England’s cricketers are flying out to Sri Lanka today as Joe Root’s men play the previous postponed series from last March.

England head out to Galle for a two Test Match series which kicks off on January 14th at 4:30am GMT as they look to back up their series victories over West Indies and Pakistan in the summer during the bio secure bubbles which were held at the Ageas Bowl and Old Trafford.

A number of the red ball specialists were rested for the limited over series in South Africa in preparation for this – all be it the three ODI’s were cancelled due to some positive tests among the Proteas ranks and hotel staff.

England head coach Chris Silverwood is boosted by the results of the coronavirus tests which all players and staff have undergone ahead of traveling to Asia this evening with all results coming back negative as Root’s side look for back-to-back series victories in Sri Lanka having won there 3-0 in 2018.

How good is this?! It’s snowing outside but the @englandcricket boys are still able to train on grass wickets in December and prep for Sri Lanka ? ? pic.twitter.com/1k373Azr5g

— James Taylor (@jamestaylor20) December 29, 2020

A strong squad has been named for the tour, although they will be without opener Rory Burns with him missing the entire series due to his wife expecting their first child, which opens a debate of who will open with Dom Sibley.

Zak Crawley appears to be the obvious option to move up from number three but having done so well in that position in the summer, the selectors may opt for another option like Jonny Bairstow who has been brought back into the squad having been left out for both the series in the summer.

The Kent man Crawley is no stranger to opening for his country – having done so when Burns was also absent for the tour of New Zealand 2019 after injuring himself in a football warm up.

With Ben Stokes being rested for the series, the most likely line-up for England will be Crawley joining Sibley at the top of the order, then the returning Bairstow at number three, a position where he scored his most recent Test century, also in Sri Lanka in the third test in 2019.

Essex batsman Dan Lawrence is also likely to come into the middle order with Stokes away and Ollie Pope, the usual number six, still out with a long term injury. Lawrence will hope to impress having been involved with the squads in recent times.

KATUNAYAKE, SRI LANKA – MARCH 09: Olly Pope and Ben Foakes of England during day three of the tour match between SLC Board President’s XI and England at Chilaw Marians Cricket Club Ground on March 09, 2020 in Katunayake, Sri Lanka. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Another option in the middle order is Ben Foakes who has represented England before and made his debut in 2019 – scoring a ton in his very first innings and going onto impress, scoring 277 runs in the series at an average of 69.25

In terms of the spinners, the selectors have named three for the tour; Moeen Ali, Jack Leach and Dom Bess. All three have had spells in the team over the last three years, but Bess is definitely England’s first choice in this department having played all the summer matches with Leach named as a reserve and Ali having not played in the longest form of the game since the first Ashes Test in 2019 at Edgbaston.

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA – MARCH 11: Jack Leach and Dom Bess of England laugh during a training session at the P Sara Oval on March 11, 2020 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo by Philip Brown/Popperfoto/Popperfoto via Getty Images)

Due to the nature of conditions in Sri Lanka, England will need to select at least two frontline spinners – Bess and one other. With the quality of captain Root’s spin improving, you would expect for the tourists to select Leach alongside Bess having worked himself back to full fitness and performed well on the last visit to Sri Lanka, picking up 18 wickets.

With two spinners expected to be named, it allows for three fast bowlers to be selected, with six of them are in the squad. Broad and Anderson have both travelled and been rested since the summer, so barring any fitness concerns, you would expect both to play a game each, with a four-match series in India to follow shortly after.

Whoever they go with out of the other pacemen, there won’t be a weaklink with Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Olly Stone all in the squad. You would imagine that they would all get at least one game due to the amount of cricket that is due to be played in the year ahead, so it is all about managing the workload ahead of a key year for Root’s men.

One of England’s best performers in recent times, Jofra Archer has also been rested for the series alongside Stokes in preparation for the series against India with England hoping they can play the long game with both of those.

There are a number of players who have been placed on a reserve list, the full squad can be found below.

England squad: Joe Root (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wk), Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Foakes (wk), Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dom Sibley, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Reserves: James Bracey (wk), Mason Crane, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Robinson, Amar Virdi.

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