England call up Burns, Denly, Stone for Sri Lanka tour

Paul Pogba scored twice as ManchesLondon: England have called up uncapped Surrey opener Rory Burns to the Test squad to face Sri Lanka this winter - the first tour since Alastair Cook’s retirement.

Burns, 28, captained Surrey to the County Championship title this year and is the leading scorer in Division One, with 1,319 runs at an average of 69.42.

Kent batsman Joe Denly and Warwickshire fast bowler Olly Stone are also named in the Test squad for the first time.

England face Sri Lanka in three Tests in November.

Denly, 32, previous played nine one-day internationals and five Twenty20 matches for England in 2009 and 2010.

He has hit three centuries to help Kent win promotion from Division Two this season, scoring 798 runs at 36.27, and he provides England with an additional leg-spin option, having taken 20 wickets at 18.90 this year.

Stone, 24, was named in the oneday squad to tour Sri Lanka on Wednesday and has taken 37 wickets at 12.27 for Warwickshire in Division Two this season. Burns has hit four centuries and seven fifties in Division One this year and scored more than 1,000 runs in each of the past five seasons.

“I’m really delighted,” he told BBC Radio London.

“There has been a bit of hearsay about me getting called up and I’ve had a lot of questions about it, so it was nice to get the call to put an end to that, stop worrying about it and just get on with my business. “I’ve never been to Sri Lanka before so that’ll be something new and I’m looking forward to getting going.”

England play five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match before the three-Test series against Sri Lanka. Joe Root, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Rory Burns, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler , Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Keaton Jennings, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.BBC one shoulder charge by the match review committee.

Slater was pinged for a shoulder on Cronulla’s Sosaia Feki in the 14th minute of Friday night’s preliminary final at AAMI Park, and will need to successfully fight the charge in Sydney next week to play in the decider.

The NRL usually host judiciary on Tuesday, however the Storm will be provided the opportunity of an earlier hearing to ensure minimal distraction to their grand final preparations.

The 35-year-old fullback was hit with a grade one charge worth 200 points, knocking him out of the premiership decider unless he fights and wins.

“I was going across in desperation to save the try,” Slater said.

“I was at top speed. Sosaia Feki was at top speed. I actually thought he was going to step inside me so that’s why I got my body in an unconventional position.

“It’s pretty hard to make a conventional tackle when you’re going across at top speed trying to stop a try. It was just an unfortunate collision.”

If Slater is ruled out, versatile Storm utility Jahrome Hughes is the most likely candidate to fill Slater’s shoes at fullback in the grand final against the winner of the Roosters and Rabbitohs. The Storm could also move Cameron Munster to fullback, where he has filled in for Slater in the past, and partner Hughes with Brodie Croft in the halves.

The most unlikely option would be shuffling Cameron Smith to the halves and playing Brandon Smith at hooker.nrl.com.