After a 3-0 series victory over the West Indies, England return to action in the first Test against Sri Lanka which starts at 11am on Wednesday 21st August.
Captain Ben Stokes is sidelined with a hamstring injury so batsman Ollie Pope will lead the hosts at Old Trafford in Manchester.
- MARK WOOD TOP ENGLAND FIRST-INNINGS WICKET-TAKER
- JAMIE SMITH TO SCORE A FIRST-INNINGS FIFTY
- SRI LANKA TO HAVE HIGHEST FIRST-INNINGS OPENING PARTNERSHIP
England Pace Ace To Trouble Tourists
Australia held out for a draw in last year's Ashes Test at Old Trafford but they were given a real scare by Mark Wood in the second innings.
The England paceman dismissed Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith and Travis Head during a couple of blistering spells and he should cause problems for Sri Lanka's batsmen in Manchester.
The tourists have had only one warm-up game before the three-Test series against England and they were rolled over for 139 in the first innings against England Lions in Worcester.
Wood bowled at a fierce pace in the first series of the summer against the West Indies. He didn't get the rewards he deserved for his efforts at Trent Bridge but was named player of the match in the third Test at Edgbaston.
The Durham speedster dismissed two of the Windies' top three in the first innings in Birmingham before demolishing the lower order to finish with figures of 5-40 second time around.
MARK WOOD TOP ENGLAND FIRST-INNINGS WICKET-TAKER
Smith Should Relish Promotion
With Ben Stokes and Zak Crawley injured, Dan Lawrence is set to open the batting for England and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith will move up to number six.
Smith has often played as a specialist batsman for Surrey in the County Championship so he should relish his promotion after a fine start to his Test career.
He came into his debut against the West Indies at Lord's in fine form after scoring 86, 100 and 70 in his previous three Championship innings for Surrey.
The 24-year-old batted maturely for his 70 in his first Test knock before scoring 36, six and 95 in the next two matches against the Windies.
In February 2023, Smith slammed an eye-catching 126 off just 86 balls for England Lions against Sri Lanka A in an unofficial Test in Galle and he can rack up another significant score against the Sri Lankan seniors this week.
JAMIE SMITH TO SCORE A FIRST-INNINGS FIFTY
Lankans Can Make Steady Start
England's Test summer began with a farewell to record wicket-taker James Anderson, who retired after the series opener against the West Indies at Lord's.
Anderson's unerring accuracy with the new ball was one of his many qualities and the Windies posted opening stands of 53 and 61 at Trent Bridge in the first match of the post-Jimmy era.
Kraigg Brathwaite and rookie Mikyle Louis then put on 76 in the first innings at Edgbaston so Sri Lanka merit a bet to post a higher opening partnership than England at Old Trafford.
Reliable veteran Dimuth Karunaratne and Nishan Madushka shared a stand of 228 against Ireland in Galle last year and their most recent first-innings Test partnership was 96 against Bangladesh in April.
They were separated with the score at 36 and 105 in two innings against England Lions last week and England's Lawrence, deputising for the injured Crawley, has limited experience at the top of the order in red-ball cricket.
SRI LANKA TO HAVE HIGHEST FIRST-INNINGS OPENING PARTNERSHIP
