Jos Buttler is likely to keep wicket for England in the first Test against Sri Lanka after captain Joe Root admitted Jonny Bairstow is a serious doubt with an ankle injury.
Bairstow, England’s Test keeper, damaged ankle ligaments during a game of football before the fourth ODI in Kandy. Asked whether Bairstow (above) was ‘odds against’ to recover in time for the first of three Tests against Sri Lanka that starts in Galle a week tomorrow, Root said: “I think so. Jonny would be a big loss but we’ve got some great players that can come in.”
England start the first of two two-day tour matches against a Sri Lanka Board President’s XI in Colombo tomorrow. Preparations are being overshadowed by increasing political unrest in Sri Lanka after President Maithripala Sirisena ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last Friday. England today confirmed they have stepped up security around the team.
