England opener Zac Crawley ruled out of Sri Lanka Tests

England opener Zak Crawley has been ruled out of the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka with a fractured finger. The 26-year-old suffered an injury on his little finger while taking a catch in the slip in the Edgbaston Test against West Indies last week and will potentially be replaced in the Playing XI by Dan Lawrence.

Consequently, Jordan Cox, the Essex batter, has earned a maiden Test call-up in the 14-man squad. The 23-year-old has crafted three hundreds and accumulated 763 runs across 12 County Championship matches this season.

Pacer Olly Stone also makes a comeback to the squad, having last played a Test for England in June 2021. He replaces counterpart Dillon Pennington, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury sustained during The Hundred.

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

The first of the three Tests against Sri Lanka will be played in Manchester from August 21.