England v Sri Lanka: first men’s cricket Test match
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first vs England
Ollie Pope lost the toss in his first Test as England captain, but got the result he was looking for anyway, as Sri Lanka chose to bat first in the opening Test at Emirates Old Trafford.
With the weather set fair for this opening day at least, Dhananjaya de Silva opted to take first use of what Pope described as a “rock-hard” surface that he expected could offer some early assistance for his quicks, with the hope that it would stay true for the first half of the game at least.
“It looks dry, and the conditions are better than the last few days,” de Silva said at the toss. “We know the conditions, have seen it in the past also, so we are ready for it.”
Pope is standing in for Ben Stokes, who tore his hamstring while playing in the Hundred last week, and admitted he would have bowled first anyway, adding that his captaincy style would continue in the same proactive vein that his predecessor had set in motion. “It’s still his team,” he said. “It’s the same messages from a different voice.”
“It’s a big honour,” Pope added. “A shame for Stokesy that he’s missing out, but a massive honour to captain the Test side, something I’m looking forward to. We were probably going to have a bowl but it looks a good pitch for the first half of the game, rock hard, so hopefully a bit of pace early.”
As has become standard for the current regime, England named their XI more than 24 hours in advance of the toss, with Matthew Potts recalled in Stokes’ place for his first cap since the one-off Ireland Test at Lord’s last summer, and ahead of the spare batter, Jordan Cox.
Dan Lawrence, who has also been waiting patiently in the wings for the past 17 Tests, slots into an unfamiliar role at the top of the order, after Zak Crawley broke a finger in the field during the West Indies series.
Sri Lanka, too, chose to show their hand early, with de Silva confirming his side during his pre-match press conference, including a maiden Test cap for the 28-year-old seamer, Milan Rathnayake.
Prior to the start of play, both sides lined up on the outfield for a tribute to the late Graham Thorpe, who died on August 4, aged 55. England will be wearing black armbands throughout the match in memory of an England great who averaged 44.66 in a 100-Test career, and went on to play a key role as a batting mentor to many of the current team, including Pope, Joe Root and Stokes.