Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has appointed former English cricketer Ian Bell as their batting coach for the upcoming Test series against England. The former England batter will start working with the team from August 16 onwards. Sri Lanka's tour of England begins with the first Test on August 21.
"Sri Lanka Cricket appointed former England batsman Ian Bell as the ‘Batting Coach’ of the national team for the ongoing tour. He will start working with the team on August 16th and remain until the conclusion of the three-test match series," SLC confirmed in a statement.
Sri Lanka cricket's CEO Ashley de Silva highlighted that the appointment is a strategic move to attain local knowledge for the tour of England. "We appointed Ian to bring in a person with local knowledge to help the players with key insights on the conditions there. Ian has a lot of experience playing in England, and wegainieve his input will help our team in this crucial tour,” said Mr Ashley De Silva, CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket.
Sri Lanka have named an 18-player squad for the series against England. Uncapped players Milan Rathnayake and Nisala Tharaka have been included in the squad led by Dhananjaya de Silva. Pathum Nissanka and Jeffrey Vandersay also make their returns to the Test set-up.
England have also named the squad for the series and there is a major uncertainty over captain Ben Stokes, who has picked up an injury during the ongoing The Hundred competition. The Stokes-led squad features the return of seamer Olly Stone, while batter Jordan Cox has been handed a maiden call-up.
Sri Lanka's squad for the Test series:
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
England's squad for the Test series:
Ben Stokes (c), Daniel Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (vc), Joe Root, Jordan Cox, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir, Olly Stone, Matt Potts
