Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

Mark Wood is ruled out of the tour with... injury. And joins Archer in the sick list.

Joe Root (Yorkshire) - captain
Dominic Bess (Somerset)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Jos Buttler (Lancashire)
Zak Crawley (Kent)
Sam Curran (Surrey)
Joe Denly (Kent)
Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire)
Ben Foakes (Surrey)
Keaton Jennings (Lancashire)
Jack Leach (Somerset)
Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire)
Ollie Pope (Surrey)
Dominic Sibley (Warwickshire)
Ben Stokes (Durham) - vice-captain
Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)

Sri Lanka tour dates

7-9 March: Warm-up – Invitational XI vs England – Katunayake
12-15 March: Four-day first-class match – Sri Lanka XI vs England – Colombo
19-23 March: 1st Test – Sri Lanka vs England – Galle
27-31 March: 2nd Test – Sri Lanka vs England – Colombo

Anderson already out too.

Not sure Wood would have enjoyed Sri Lanka anyway.more concerned about reports Leach might still be a bit iffy.

The pace options for England look unlikely to do too much damage...but at least they can bat. Get enough runs and hopefully the spinners can do a job - but I think Leach is important for that.

England playing a tour game at the moment, but its a squad game so difficult to be interested. But Leach hasn't batted or bowled in the game.

Guess we will see Woody return sometime in 2023 when hes next fit.

How is Keaton Jennings back in the squad

Special case.

Has gained a reputation as an Asian pitch specialist.

Doesn't feel all that likely he'll play though as he's batting down the order in this game.

Foakes batted for long periods in the game without getting out.

A three day squad game that ends in a three innings draw. Thus gains a grip of torpor over the tour. It's got that these games are no longer even reported on.

Yes I know. Broken record.

I would rather someone like Crawley is given a chance to learn on Sri Lankan wickets rather than having Jennings as a specialist against spin. What happens when Burns comes back? It will come down to Denly v Crawley. He has a very good chance (good so far in SL) of getting the number 3 spot which wouldn't happen if Jennings plays.

It's an XIvXI game for the second warm up. Might be this is the Test team. Leach is in. Curran, Woakes and Stokes the pace attack. JB2 the keeper.

Presumably England will go in with five seamers when it matters. Good to see Leach playing again.

Not in this team: Broad/Foakes/Jennings/Parkinson/Mahmood.

Denly scores a Denlyesque 26.

The tour has been called off due to coronavirus.

mikesiva wrote:The tour has been called off due to coronavirus.

I was under the misapprehension that it hadnt got that far yet, and that the virus was terribly unstable in warm weather conditions.

Yeah, Sri Lanka has only three cases, so England cricketers would be safer from coronavirus in Sri Lanka than back home.

But what about all those England fans unknowingly carrying coronavirus with them to Sri Lanka?