The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said Crawley will miss the series due to a fractured right little finger sustained in England\u2019s third Test victory over the West Indies at Edgbaston, while Pennington also misses out after sustaining a hamstring injury while playing in The Hundred competition for the Northern Superchargers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Crawley\u2019s injury means he will now be building up to return to England\u2019s squad for their three-match Test tour of Pakistan in October. For now, in his absence for the Sri Lanka series, Dan Lawrence is all set to open the batting for England alongside Ben Duckett.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the duo\u2019s absence, middle-order batter Jordan Cox has been given a maiden call-up, while pacer Olly Stone earns a recall to the Test team for the first time since June 2021. Cox as been in excellent form for Essex this season after joining from Kent at the start of the year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He has amassed 763 runs in 12 innings of County Championship Division One matches at an average of 69.36, including hitting three hundreds. Cox has been involved in the England set-up previously, having toured Pakistan with the England white-ball squad in the autumn of 2022.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
On the other hand, Stone, whose career has been stop-start due to injuries, will be looking to add to his three Test caps and ten scalps in the format through the series against Sri Lanka. Following the first Test at Manchester, England will play its next two Tests against Sri Lanka at Lord\u2019s (August 29-September) and The Oval (September 6-10).<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He has amassed 763 runs in 12 innings of County Championship Division One matches at an average of 69.36, including hitting three hundreds. Cox has been involved in the England set-up previously, having toured Pakistan with the England white-ball squad in the autumn of 2022.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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