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England head into the final Test of the summer against Sri Lanka looking to make it six wins from six and record their first perfect record since 2004.
Here are the main areas of discussion at the Oval.
One Hull of a gamble
England have made another major selection gamble by drafting in 20-year-old Josh Hull, who boasts just 16 wickets at an average of 62.75 in his brief first-class career. The 6ft 7in Leicestershire left-armer has taken only two wickets in three matches in Division Two of the County Championship this year at an average of 182.50, but brings physical attributes that mark him out from the crowd. England’s recent record with debutant bowlers is outstanding – with Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed, Josh Tongue, Tom Hartley and Gus Atkinson all taking five-fors in their first Test appearance. Can Hull follow their lead?
Root branching out
Joe Root’s purple patch continued with record-breaking twin tons at Lord’s. Not only did he extend his lead on top of the ICC’s batting rankings, he also surpassed Sir Alastair Cook as England’s leading Test centurion by taking his career tally to 34. The 33-year-old is now just 96 runs short of overtaking Cook’s national-record total of 12,472 and replacing his fellow former England captain in fifth place in the all-time list. With 350 runs in the series so far and six Test centuries against Sri Lanka at an impressive average of 67.55, Root will fancy his chances of continuing his dominance over the tourists and passing Cook’s mark.
Pope looking for home comforts
Ollie Pope has enjoyed back-to-back wins since replacing the injured Ben Stokes as captain but things have not gone to plan with the bat. The number three has made just 30 runs in four innings and been guilty of some careless dismissals. Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has questioned Pope’s long-term suitability for the job but some of the pressure would ease with a big score. There is nowhere he would rather be than the Kia Oval, a ground where he boasts an outstanding record with Surrey. With an average of 53.66 in two Tests on his home track, and a top score of 81, he will have high hopes.
Lawrence light on runs
Pope is not the only batter struggling for a score, with his Surrey team-mate Dan Lawrence yet to grab the opportunity created by Zak Crawley’s broken finger at the top of the order. Lawrence has been around the England squad for the last four years without a consistent run and was unlucky that this opportunity came as an opener. A natural middle-order strokemaker, his return of 80 runs in four visits has created more questions than answers. With places to play for on the forthcoming tour of Pakistan, he needs to show more to stay ahead of the pack.
One last chance for the Sri Lanka batters
Sri Lanka arrived in England with a seasoned batting group and a handful of key men averaging north of 40 in Test cricket. But Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and captain Dhananjaya de Silva have all made heavy weather of English conditions. The quartet have all made half-centuries but relative newcomer Kamindu Mendis has outshone them all. He has averaged 50.75 so far, with 113 at Old Trafford and 74 at Lord’s. He was tipped to move up the order after his solid showings but De Silva plans to keep him at number seven.
