“Zak Crawley Ruled Out of England vs Sri Lanka Test Series Due to Fracture”

London: England announced a 14-member squad for their upcoming three-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Opener Zak Crawley will miss the series after fracturing his right little finger during England’s third Test against the West Indies. Seamer Dillon Pennington will also be absent due to a hamstring injury sustained while playing for the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred competition.

Pennington was part of England’s squad for their three-match series against the West Indies last month. Test skipper Ben Stokes was impressed with the 25-year-old and mentioned that Pennington would be “ready to go” if needed against Sri Lanka.

Pennington has been one of the standout bowlers in the ongoing County Championship season. Playing for Nottinghamshire, he picked up 31 wickets at an average of 23.80 in eight appearances.

Due to the absence of Crawley and Pennington, Jordan Cox and Olly Stone have been called up to the Test team.

Jordan Cox, a middle-order batter from Essex, was part of the England white-ball setup during their tour of Pakistan last year. He has been the leading run-scorer for Essex in this season’s County Championship, accumulating 763 runs at an average of 69.36, including three centuries.

For Olly Stone, the Sri Lanka series marks his return to the England lineup for the first time since 2021. The Nottinghamshire speedster has played three Tests, taking 10 wickets at an average of 19.4.

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, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.