Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka have a problem of plenty. This is not something that has been true for Sri Lanka Test sides in recent years. Even stranger, the kind of players they have too many are seam bowlers. In their most recent Test at The Oval, Sri Lanka’s quartet of quicks decked England for 156 in the

Top-order batter Oshada Fernando has returned to Sri Lanka’s Test fold following an 18-month absence, but this means there is no room for opening batter Nishan Madushka in Sri Lanka’s 16-man squad for this month’s two-Test series against New Zealand at home. Of those that toured England, fast-bowling allrounder Nisala Tharaka and seamer Kasun Rajitha

Sri Lanka’s most-famed England victory may still be their Oval win from 1998, but the team that won the third Test of their 2024 tour on Monday did it in tougher conditions. This is what Sanath Jayasuriya believes, and he would know. Jayasuriya was one of the architects of the 1998 victory, crashing 213 runs

Sri Lanka 263 (Dhananjaya 69, Kamindu 64, Nissanka 64) and 219 for 2 (Nissanka 127*) beat England 325 (Pope 154, Duckett 86) and 156 (Smith 67, Kumara 4-21, Vishwa 3-40) by eight wickets “Too soon!” That was the mood as autumnal conditions enveloped an Oval ground which, it felt like only yesterday, had hosted a

Ollie Pope, England’s stand-in captain, admitted his team were frustrated at missing out on a notable slice of history in the final Test of the English summer, but denied that complacency had been to blame for their shock eight-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval. Leading 2-0 in this series, and following on

Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s interim head coach, said that his team’s success in frustrating Harry Brook had been integral to their fightback on the second day at the Kia Oval, as they reached the close on 211 for 5 in their first innings, trailing by just 114 after bowling England out for 325 in the

Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl vs England Sri Lanka have won the toss and elected to bowl first under heavy skies in the third and final Test at The Kia Oval, where England are seeking a clean sweep of the series. After heavy showers in parts of London and Surrey early

Big picture: Sri Lanka return to scene of 1998 triumph To The Oval, traditional venue for the final Test of the English summer – although not, by any means, the final international commitment for England’s men, who go straight into eight white-ball fixtures against Australia off the back of Sri Lanka’s visit (the first T20I

It’s the batters, batters, batters. Right through the series, Sri Lanka have emphasised that it was their batting order that was letting the side down. Four innings in, with Sri Lanka never having got close to 350, with none of their top seven having got to triple-figures, captain Dhananjaya de Silva has reiterated the importance

Joe Root has scores of 42, 62 not out, 143, and 103 so far in this series. In general, he averages 67.55 against Sri Lanka, having hit 186 and a 228 in his last series against this opposition as well, those mammoth scores coming in Galle. He sweeps and reverse-sweeps well, tends to be proactive

Diminishing Test returns after being promoted to a leadership role is not just an Ollie Pope problem. Since assuming the vice-captaincy for the Sri Lanka series, Harry Brook has not been his usual, ruthless self. Starts have been given away throughout and an average of 39.50 from four innings is comfortably his lowest of any

It should have been a crowning moment on this sun-soaked Sunday afternoon in north-west London. Olly Stone backpedalled from mid-on to settle underneath a catch off Chris Woakes’ bowling, clinching England’s fifth consecutive Test win and their second series win of the summer. And yet, England’s players celebrated this 190-run victory over Sri Lanka in

Sri Lanka 196 and 136 for 4 (Mathews 34*, Chandimal 15*) need a further 347 runs to beat England 427 and 251 Sri Lanka made a solid start with the bat on day four of the second Test at Lord’s, Dimuth Karunaratne notching his first half-century of the series, but England knocked over two of

Eoin Morgan criticised England and Ollie Pope for a lack of killer instinct with “everything in their favour”, as their refusal to continue bowling spin from both ends brought the third day of their second Test against Sri Lanka to a premature close at Lord’s. Pope brought on Shoaib Bashir and Joe Root to bowl

Alastair Cook hailed Joe Root as “a genius” after losing his record for the most England Test centuries to his former team-mate. Root made 103 in the second innings against Sri Lanka at Lord’s on Saturday, his second hundred of the match and his 34th overall in Test cricket, taking him clear of Cook’s former

Dhananjaya de Silva hopes that his Sri Lanka team-mates can earn more opportunities in county cricket through their performances in England, which he believes would be particularly beneficial to their batters. Counties have been allowed to field two overseas players in their XI in each format since 2021. A relaxation of visa criteria has enabled

Kamindu made his debut against Australia two years ago, deputising for Dhananjaya de Silva on account of a positive Covid test. He made 61 in an innings win but had to bide his time for another opportunity, eventually returning to the side earlier this year and making twin hundreds against Bangladesh in Sylhet. “I knew

Stone, 30, has only played three Tests in his injury-blighted career but has been a regular in England squads when fit. After missing most of last season with a hamstring injury, Stone has played 28 times across formats this summer for Nottinghamshire and London Spirit, the second-most appearances he has made in a single season.

Joe Root joked that he’d been forced to channel his “inner [Nasser] Hussain” in tricky batting conditions at Emirates Old Trafford, after anchoring England’s taxing run-chase in the first Test against Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 62 from 128 balls. Speaking to Hussain and Ian Ward on Sky Sports, shortly after England’s five-wicket win on

Sri Lanka 236 and 326 (Kamindu 113, Chandimal 79, Potts 3-47) lead England 358 (Smith 111, Brook 56, Asitha 4-102) by 204 runs England will need 205 for victory in the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford, after a brilliant fightback from Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal ended in a collapse of four wickets in

For the second time in as many Test summers, England found themselves on the right side of a ball change. After the 41st over of Sri Lanka’s second innings on day two of this first Test at Emirates Old Trafford, standing umpires Chris Gaffaney and Paul Reiffel agreed to the hosts’ request to swap out

Lunch Sri Lanka 236 and 10 for 2 (Mathews 6*, Karunaratne 4*) trail England 358 (Smith 111, Brook 56, Asitha 4-102) by 112 runs Jamie Smith delivered on his rich promise on the third morning at Emirates Old Trafford, easing through to his maiden Test century in only his fifth innings, before England’s seamers cemented

Chris Woakes believes he could lead England’s bowling attack in Pakistan and New Zealand this winter, despite his modest Test record overseas. Woakes has a bowling average of 51.88 in his 20 away Tests, compared to 21.57 in 32 at home, but said that he will not “shy away” from touring either this winter and

Sri Lanka 80 for 5 (de Silva 28*, Kamindu 5*) vs England Ollie Pope‘s temporary reign as England captain got off to a flying start on the first morning at Old Trafford, as Sri Lanka stumbled to 80 for 5 after opting to bat first in the opening Test of the series. A combination of

Athapaththu won the toss on this occasion and opted to bowl, but Sri Lanka wouldn’t have expected the rewards they got early on. Indeed, when Sri Lanka had opted to field in the last game, Ireland rode on half-centuries from Amy Hunter (66), Leah Paul (81) and Rebecca Stokell (53*) to put up 255 for

England’s players will pay tribute to the late Graham Thorpe before the start of their Test series against Sri Lanka, which starts in Manchester on Wednesday. Thorpe took his own life at the age of 55 on August 4, after suffering from what his widow Amanda described as “major depression and anxiety”. He was one

Ollie Pope will become the 82nd man to captain England’s Test team when they face Sri Lanka on Wednesday, standing in for the injured Ben Stokes. Stokes is with the squad in Manchester and will remain with them throughout the three-match series, with Pope conceding on Tuesday that “it’s still Stokesy’s team” as he pledged

“I’d bat No.11, if I had to.” It’s a line Dan Lawrence has used before, which is as much a reflection of three years spent largely carrying drinks as his 11 caps spent ticking off every slot between No.3 and 7. But its airing on Monday in the press conference room at Emirates Old Trafford

Matthew Potts has been announced as Ben Stokes’ replacement in the XI for England’s first Test against Sri Lanka, with Harry Brook stepping into the vice-captaincy role for the series to assist stand-in captain Ollie Pope. Potts, who earned the last of his six Test caps in the one-off Test against Ireland last summer, has

Ireland Women 255 for 5 (Paul 81, Hunter 66, Stokell 53*, Dilhari 2-35, Kulasuriya 2-48) beat Sri Lanka Women 240 (Samarawickrama 105, Dilhari 53, Kelly 3-41, Maguire 2-33) by 15 runs Half-centuries from Amy Hunter, Leah Paul and Rebecca Stokell laid the foundations and Arlene Kelly applied the finishing touches with a three-wicket haul as