Sports

England give Burns chance to fill Cook's shoes in Sri Lanka

September 21, 2018
Rory Burns, seen in this file photo, has been picked by England for the Sri Lanka tour.
Rory Burns, seen in this file photo, has been picked by England for the Sri Lanka tour.

NOTTINGHAM, United Kingdom — Uncapped Surrey batsman Rory Burns is set to replace Alastair Cook at the top of England's order after being named in a 16-man squad on Friday for the upcoming three-Test tour of Sri Lanka.

Left-handed opener Cook, England's all-time leading run-scorer, retired from international duty after bringing down the curtain on his illustrious 12-year Test career with a farewell century against India at the Oval earlier this month. That left England with an opening batsman vacancy.

They have now turned to Burns, who captained Surrey to the County Championship title this season.

Burns has been the leading run-scorer in the English top flight this season, scoring 1,319 Championship runs at an average of over 69.

Burns was one of three uncapped players in the squad, along with Kent batsman Joe Denly and Warwickshire paceman Olly Stone.

England have two warm-up games in October and November before facing Sri Lanka in the first of three Tests in Galle starting on Nov. 6.

Squad: Joe Root (Yorkshire, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire, wkt), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Joe Denly (Kent), Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Jack Leach (Somerset), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire).

Fixtures

Oct 30-31: Sri Lanka Cricket Board President's XI v England, Colombo, Nondescripts Cricket Club

Nov 01-02: SLC Board Presidents XI v England, Colombo Cricket Club

Nov 06-Nov 10: Sri Lanka V England, 1st Test, Galle

Nov 14-Nov 18: Sri Lanka V England, 2nd Test, Kandy

Nov 23-27: Sri Lanka V England, 3rd Test, Colombo. — AFP


September 21, 2018
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