Surrey cricketer to replace Cook in England Test squad

Surrey opener Rory Burns is set to replace Alastair Cook in the England Test side for the Sri Lanka tour after the latter plays his last Test match at Oval against India starting on Friday.

Surrey opener Rory Burns is set to replace Alastair Cook in the England Test side for the Sri Lanka tour after the latter plays his last Test match at Oval against India starting on Friday.

Cook – England’s all-time highest scorer in Test cricket – decided to hang his boots after playing 160 Tests, leaving England with a huge headache of finding a suitable replacement before the next series against Sri Lanka.

Burns, a prolific scorer for Surrey, is the frontrunner to grab Cook’s spot in the playing XI. Burns was supposed to replace Jennings in the final Test match against India if Cook had not announced his retirement.

Jennings, on the other hand, is set to retain his place in the side. With Cook not there, the England selectors would not want to leave out Jennings and expose two youngsters in difficult conditions in Sri Lanka.

In his 103 first-class matches, Burns has scored 7203 runs with 14 centuries and an impressive average of 44. While Burns is certain to make the cut for the Sri Lanka tour and open the innings with Jennings, another county veteran, Joe Denly is set to be picked for the Sri Lanka tour too.

Denly, who represented England in 9 ODIs and five T20Is in 2009-10, is set to earn his maiden Test call-up on the back of some consistent performances in the last two county seasons.

Denly averages 45.88 for Kent this first-class season and averaged 57.54 in 2017. Although these runs were mainly made in Division Two of the County Championship, England believe that the figure understates his true worth because Canterbury, his home ground, has been a tough place to bat.