Burns to fill in for Cook in Sri Lanka

UNCAPPED Surrey batsman Rory Burns is set to replace Alastair Cook at the top of England’s order after being named in a 16-man squad on Friday for the upcoming three-Test tour of Sri Lanka.

Left-handed opener Cook, England’s all-time leading runscorer, retired from international duty after bringing down the curtain on his illustrious 12-year Test career with a farewell century against India at the Oval this month.

That left England with an opening batsman vacancy.

They have now turned to Burns, who captained Surrey to the County Championship title this season, with Kent top-order batsman Joe Denly and Warwickshire paceman Olly Stone the other two uncapped players in the squad.

Burns has been the leading run-scorer in the English top flight this season, scoring 1,319 Championship runs at an average of over 69.

“I think Rory Burns has impressed everyone with the consistency of his run scoring.

“Not just this year when he’s scored 1,300 runs and led Surrey to the title – which are both significant achievements – but over five years he has consistently scored over a thousand runs [a season],” said Smith.

He was speaking at Trent Bridge on Friday after overseeing a selection meeting.

‘No secret’

Fellow opener Keaton Jennings was retained despite struggling against Pakistan and India this season – he scored 192 runs in six Tests at a meagre average of 19.20.

“Like every opening batsman this summer Keaton Jennings found opening the batting difficult. There’s no secret about that,” said Smith, a former England batsman. “But when it comes to selecting a touring party, we felt Keaton was in our best squad to beat Sri Lanka.”

The 32-year-old Denly returned to the England set-up for the first time since 2010, when he earned nine one-day international caps and played five Twenty20s.

His leg-spin could also prove useful in Sri Lanka, where pitches often provide plenty of turn.

Warwickshire paceman Olly Stone was the third uncapped player in the squad.

Stone, 24, who was named in England’s squad for the first time earlier this week for the preceding one-day series, has taken 37 wickets at just 12 apiece for Warwickshire this season.

He adds a measure of extra pace to an attack set to be headed up again by James Anderson and Stuart Broad.