England have named their playing XI for the first ODI against Sri Lanka which will take place on Wednesday. The first ODI of the three-game series will be held at the R. Premadasa International Cricket
Stadium on January 22. Harry Brook is set to captain the side and they have named a good mix of pacers and spinners with a couple of all-rounders too. Ben Duckett will open the batting with Zak Crawley who makes a comeback to the ODI circuit. The number 3 spot will be taken by Joe Root, who was one of the leading run-getter in this format last year. With the match set to be played tomorrow, England have continued their policy of naming the Playing XI a day before the match.
In the press conference, Harry Brook also told that he took it upon himself to go out alone in Wellington and was clocked by a bouncer as he tried to get into a nightclub. “I made a terrible mistake, not only as a player, but as a captain. It’s very unprofessional, and I should be leading from the front and showing the players how it should be as a professional cricketer and a captain, and I put myself in a bad situation,” Brook said in a statement to Sky Sports.
Jacob Bethell is set to bat at 4 as per the team sheet with captain Harry Brook coming in at 5. Jos Buttler, Will Jacks, Sam Curran are slotted in the lower middle order roles. Dawson and Adil Rashid are the main spinners with Bethell and Jacks also a part time option. England have very good batting depth and all the players are quite handy with the bat. This ODI series will be followed by a T20I series ahead of the upcoming WT20.
England XI for first ODI against Sri Lanka:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (captain), Jos Buttler (wicket-keeper), Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid
