Cricket
England v Sri Lanka First Test preview
Sunday’s conclusion of The Hundred paves the way for England’s second and final Test series of the summer, as Brendon McCullum’s side face off against Sri Lanka in another three-match series, starting on Wednesday at Old Trafford.
With injuries to opener Zak Crawley and captain Ben Stokes, there will be tinkers to the England side that dispatched the West Indies 3-0 earlier in the summer as the hosts attempt to climb the World Test Championship table.
We preview the first Test below.
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England v Sri Lanka – Wednesday 11:00
England’s whitewash victory against the West Indies last month failed to pose any meaningful questions on paper, though they will be happy with the ultimate margin of each victory having been under pressure during important periods of the second and third Tests.
On Wednesday they return to Old Trafford for the first time since their agonising rain-affected draw against Australia last summer, which allowed the visitors to retain the Ashes. The Aussies are the only country since Pakistan in 2001 to beat England in Manchester when they claimed a 185-run win in 2019. England, subsequently, head into this one as 2/7 favourites – though not as big as the 1/6 and 1/10 starting prices we saw before their first two Tests against the West Indies.
Speaking of the Windies series, Gus Atkinson has been a revelation since deputising at Lord’s in the opener, picking up 22 wickets at 16.22 and being awarded Player of the Series for his efforts with the ball. There have been many fine England bowling debutants who have tailed off quickly, but one would presume with the raw pace the Surrey man possesses, he’ll be firmly in the conversation for England’s next away Ashes trip in 2025/26 and leads the betting at 17/10 to pick up the most first innings wickets for the hosts.
Other notable talking points for Wednesday’s opener include Dan Lawrence opening the batting alongside Ben Duckett, following Zak Crawley’s finger injury. England’s trend of shoehorning Surrey batsmen into the side – regardless of whether it’s a natural position for them – seems to know no bounds, and Lawrence is only sixth in the betting for who Willliam Hill think will record the most first innings runs this week at 11/2.
Joe Root leads the aforementioned market at 13/5 after a good series against the Windies and is Phil Tufnell’s Pick to score the most runs alongside an England win at 9/2. Fellow Yorkshireman Harry Brook – stepping into vice captaincy as Ollie Pope covers the missing Stokes – is second at 3/1, while Ben Duckett, off the back of a brilliant Hundred campaign, makes up the top three at 18/5.
Sri Lanka can pack a punch
Sri Lanka’s most recent Test series was a 2-0 victory away at Bangladesh in March, where they limited their hosts to just 866 runs across four innings. In both matches they set Bangladesh second innings totals of exactly 511 runs, with Kamindu Mendis in particular impressing with incredible scores of 102, 164 and 92* at number seven.
While their spin bowling will always remain strong, Sri Lanka’s seam attack has notably improved in recent years with Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara picking up all 20 wickets in the first Test in Sylhet. With overcast conditions expected in Manchester throughout the week, don’t be surprised if England find themselves in a spot of bother facing the new ball against a very skilled trio of pacemen.
Rajitha and Kumara each trade at 2/1 to be the top Sri Lankan wicket taker in England’s first innings, with Fernando a shade longer at 9/4, but it’s left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya who leads the market at 13/8 to pick up the most English scalps. The 32-year-old already has seven 5-wicket hauls in just 12 Test matches and will be licking his lips at the prospect of 10 right-handers in England’s XI for Wednesday’s clash.
Despite some favourable form and matchups, it would be a massive shock if Sri Lanka were to pull off an upset in Manchester this week, which is reflected in their odds of 9/1 for victory. Watch out for the draw’s price of 19/5 throughout the week if some of the cloud materialises to rain, which appears to be Sri Lanka’s likeliest way of avoiding defeat.
