Image Credit- Getty
The Oval, the customary site for the last Test of the English summer, is the location for this event. However, this is by no means the last international match that England’s men will play; following Sri Lanka’s visit, they have eight white-ball matches against Australia (the opening Twenty20 International takes place 24 hours after the scheduled fifth day of the Test).
For now, the news that Brendon McCullum will soon be leading England’s white-ball fortunes may cause his mind to wander, the focus is still on Test cricket and the desire to complete a first summer sweep since 2004.
Twenty years ago, Michael Vaughan’s team crushed West Indies and New Zealand by a 7-0 margin, giving them a boost going into the subsequent Ashes campaign. McCullum and Ben Stokes, who is currently sidelined while recovering from a hamstring tear, will be hoping for a similar outcome leading up to the marquee series against Australia (away) and India (at home) in 2025.
After losing 4-1 in India to begin the year, England’s comeback has gone well thus far, even with the West Indies and Sri Lanka posing only a modest threat. With 33 wickets in five games, including a career-high hundred at Lord’s last week, Gus Atkinson has emerged as the hero of a post-Broaderson attack, while Jamie Smith has cemented his position as the wicketkeeper. After winning the Sri Lanka series, McCullum elected to include another exciting young player. Josh Hull, a 6′ 7″ left-armer from Leicestershire, made an unexpected debut out of left field.
All of this may have been planned with the 2025–2026 Ashes in mind. After all, who wouldn’t want to bowl down under with a massive southpaw who can reach 90 mph? However, Hull has already shown successful against Sri Lanka, taking five wickets for the England Lions in the warm-up match for the series. Furthermore, England has once again argued that first-class figures (16 wickets at 62.75) are not always indicative of the whole picture.
Ollie Pope will have one more opportunity to raise his average as Test captain in the last Test of the domestic season—that is, if Stokes is well enough to lead the team once more in Pakistan the following month.
While the English summer may not measure up to expectations, Sri Lanka’s first multi-match Test trip has not lived up to the hype. This week’s weather in London is predicted to be unimpressive once more. At Lord’s, there were moments of resistance as Kamindu Mendis and Asitha Fernando demonstrated their potential once more, but England was kept back by the senior three of Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, and Dimuth Karunaratne, who all scored fifty runs in the fourth inning.
At this point, they would have like to be battling for anything other than pride, but after two disastrous first innings, they had too much work ahead of them. Additionally, Dhananjaya’s choice to bowl at Lord’s exposed an inexperienced bowling attack. Having their first Test back in south London since their historic victory at The Oval in 1998 ought to lift spirits. If you need more inspiration, consider this: Sri Lanka has played four previous three-Test series in England without losing.