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The start of the men's Test series between England and Sri Lanka.
The match is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, August 21 with the first ball due to be bowled at 11am.
International cricket returns to Emirates Old Trafford for the first Test.
Ian Bell and Sanath Jayasuriya are working with Sri Lanka (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
England secured a series whitewash win over West Indies before the international summer halted for The Hundred.
Joe Root top-scored for England, with 291 runs in three games, while Ollie Pope and new boy Jamie Smith also averaged 50.
Gus Atkinson, who debuted for the home side in James Anderson's last Test, walked away from the three-match series with 22 wickets at 16.22 apiece.
Mark Wood bowled rapidly without quite so much reward, while Chris Woakes found his rhythm as the series wore on.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, looked undercooked in a warmup defeat by England Lions at New Road.
Matthew Potts has been recalled to the England side for the first Test of the series against Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Potts, who played the most recent of his six Tests in June 2023, will form part of a five-man attack alongside Woakes, Wood, Atkinson and Shoaib Bashir.
With Ben Stokes unavailable, Jamie Smith will move up to No.6 with Woakes coming in at No.7. Atkinson or Potts are expected to bat at No.8. Dan Lawrence, playing his first Test since March 2022, will open in place of the injured Zak Crawley. Lawrence has previously opened only seven times in first-class cricket.
"I did actually start my first-class career as an opener and then I've gradually kind of moved up and down as I've gone along," Lawrence said. "It shouldn't be too much different from batting three or four.
"I think my game suits opening. I'm not a massively fluent off side player. I think I will leave well and wait for them to come straight. It's a fairly simple game plan. I'm just going to go out there and try and express myself and be compact and solid."
England have also confirmed Harry Brook as the team's vice-captain. Ollie Pope, the regular vice-captain, has been promoted to lead the side in Stokes' absence but naming Brook as his deputy underlines his seniority in this squad and suggests he may be seen as a long-term leadership option.
England XI for first Test: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir
Sri Lanka squad: Dhananjaya De Silva (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (vc), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Nisala Tharaka, Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milan Rathnayake
Ben Stokes is missing through injury (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Showers are forecast during the game, with a chance of rain across all five days.
England are 3/10 favourites to win the first Test, with Sri Lanka at 11/1.
All three tests will be shown on Sky Sports. If you have a Sky Sports subscription you can add a sports package here.
If you do not have Sky you can sign up here. You can also pay for a month's worth of sport access by using a NowTV pass here.
If you are out of the country but want to access your Sky subscription you can do so by signing up to a VPN. This allows you to set your location to UK from anywhere in the world and access your streaming service. You can sign up to Surfshark from £2 here.
The coverage begins at 10am with the first ball of the day bowled at 11am on Wednesday 21 August.
BBC Test Match Special will provide ball-by-ball radio commentary for listeners in the UK.
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