England have announced their playing XI for the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the Oval and have made one change from the combination that played the Lord's clash. England have decided to hand a debut to the 20-year-old left-arm seamer Josh Hull, who came into the squad before the second Test replacing injured Mark Wood. England have taken a punt on Hull, who despite having a first-class average of 58, trumped someone like Sam Cook to get a Test call-up.
Hull, who has been selected for all three formats for England, recently impressed one and all with his height and ability to bounce out opposition during the Hundred and for England Lions in the tour game against Sri Lanka. Hull replaced Matthew Potts in England's playing XI, who was able to take a total of five wickets in two matches in the series so far.
Gus Atkinson, the star of England's Test summer, was expected to be rested for the final game with the series already in the bag, however, the hosts have opted not to go for too many changes.
England have already sealed the series, taking a 2-0 unassailable lead and would want to end their Test summer on a high and ensure that it remains spotless.
Prior to the Test summer, England needed to win every one of their remaining 12 matches in the current World Test Championship (WTC) cycle to have a shot at making the final. So far, England have followed the script to the T and would want more of the same in London.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, needed to win six out of their nine Tests remaining and one more loss will push them to a must-win situation in the rest of their six matches in the 2023-25 WTC cycle.
England's playing XI for 3rd Test against Sri Lanka: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook (vc), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Olly Stone, Josh Hull, Shoaib Bashir
