Cricket - First Test - England v Sri Lanka - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - August 21, 2024 England's Jamie Smith and Ollie Pope are seen wearing black armbands in memory of former England cricketer Graham Thorpe before the start of match Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva won the toss and opted to bat in the first test of a three-match series against England on Wednesday under cloudy skies at Old Trafford.
Sri Lanka head into the match off the back of a seven-wicket defeat by the England Lions while England claimed a comprehensive 3-0 victory in a test series against West Indies last month.
England will be captained by Ollie Pope after Ben Stokes was ruled out for the rest of the English summer following a hamstring injury.
England players will wear black armbands in memory of former England batsman and coach Graham Thorpe who died at the age of 55 this month.
Teams:
England: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir.
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal (wicketkeeper), Dhananjaya de Silva (captain), Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Milan Rathnayake
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
