Broad and Bairstow back for final Test

● England opt to rotate squad with series against Sri Lanka already wrapped up

England have made two changes for the third and final Test in Sri Lanka, with Stuart Broad and Jonny Bairstow returning in place of the rested James Anderson and the injured Sam Curran.

Record wicket-taker Anderson will make way after admitting to feeling “like a spare part” on spinning pitches in Galle and Kandy, while Bairstow will become the latest man tried at number three.

After a fitness test at Sinhalese Sports Club, England decided Curran’s side strain would not allow him to take the field in the early hours of Friday and opted to rebalance the side in his absence.

Bairstow’s inclusion ahead of Chris Woakes or Olly Stone will further bolster the batting order, while Ben Stokes will take on second seamer duties.

Last week in Kandy, Stokes was promoted to first wicket down but that job will now transfer to Bairstow, whose ankle injury allowed Ben Foakes to emerge as the new first-choice wicketkeeper.

Having seen an unchanged XI take a decisive 2-0 lead, the tourists will be hoping their revised formula delivers a clean sweep in Colombo.

For Anderson, it is an early end to a challenging trip. The 36-year-old has sent down a total of 41 overs in four innings on unwelcoming tracks with his solitary dismissal coming when he found Dimuth Karunaratne’s edge with his second ball of the series.

He said: “Broady’s going to play instead of me. The thinking is that, with the series sewn up, it’s an opportunity to rotate.

“You don’t want to miss a Test but I understand the reasoning behind it. We’re going to the West Indies [in the new year] and with a view to that, I think the feeling is they want Broady to get some Test cricket under his belt.

“It’s been a frustrating trip for me really because you want to

0 Jonny Bairstow: In at No 3.

contribute to the wins and I feel like I’ve tried my best but it’s not really been a series for the seamers.

“I feel like a bit of a spare part but I think that’s just the nature of playing cricket here.”

Broad, who has impressed with an exemplary attitude after being left out for just the second time in a decade, will be hoping for a more responsive surface for his comeback match but Anderson’s early assessment after seeing the track at SSC offered minimal encouragement.

“It’s turning square, there’s no pace in the pitch and you don’t feel the nicks really carry,” said Anderson.

“There’snotbeenmuchcarry and not much reverse-swing. So when you’re not getting lateral movement in the air and nothing off the pitch, you feel a bit like a bowling machine.”

Bairstow’s elevation in the order, meanwhile, makes him the fifth player to bat at three in the last five Tests, following Root, Stokes, Moeen Ali and Keaton Jennings. The latter was an anomaly due to Jack Leach’s appearance as a nightwatchman in Kandy, but there is no escaping the uncertainty over such a key position.