00:00So, Dan, the next test series with England cricket is obviously welcoming Sri Lanka.
00:08They've just been on the back of welcoming West Indies. In a test series that wasn't
00:13really for the imagination, really, it was quite simple. But it also buys into this bigger
00:20issue with red ball cricket at the moment, with the amount of finances piled into other
00:25forms of white ball, such as the 100, the BBL over in Australia, the Indian Leagues
00:32as well, the big bashes and stuff. And you see a lot of players going over and choosing
00:36these over red ball. Firstly, just on the Sri Lanka test, it's good for Sri Lanka to
00:43come to one of the best test nations in the world and tour and get some minutes played.
00:49But you can't really see it being much more than an England win.
00:53Well, that's the thing, isn't it? And that's sort of the disappointment because you've
00:57got a lot of other test nations who really aren't that good anymore because they're not
01:02prioritising the red ball game. But even then, in this country, as you quite rightly mentioned,
01:06there's a lot more sort of emphasis at the moment on competitions like the 100 to the
01:11detriment of the red ball game, because it's the height of British summer at the moment.
01:15It's August. It's the warmest month. It's the time of year you traditionally want to
01:19be seeing test matches. I know you've got Sri Lanka, that test to come, but recently
01:26all we've had is the 100 and you've had very little sort of looking towards the one-day
01:32cup, which is perhaps more of a pure form of cricket, if we are going to make that sort
01:36of an argument. But then you've got the 100 and then you've got England's test captain,
01:39Ben Stokes, playing in a 100th match and ultimately going off with a hamstring injury.
01:44Leonard, obviously we're previewing the Sri Lankan test series where they are touring
01:49England. What can we expect from this and how important is it that Sri Lanka get to
01:55come over to England and play in their test format?
01:59Yes, they're really excited to have come here for three matches, especially a three-match
02:05test series, where they don't get them more often. We would like to have Ben Stokes in
02:11the team and playing. It would have been a nice spectacle. Anyway, it was really unfortunate
02:15that he is sidelined, but fortunate for the Sri Lankan team that he has the danger man
02:20out. But only Pope will have to see how he leads the side, so that will also go in Sri
02:30Lanka's favour. Even Dhananjali Silva, he doesn't have that much of experience. He will
02:35have to rely on some tactics from Angelo Matthews, Dimitra Karnarathna and Chandimal.
02:41So there is support for him in the team. About England, it's good that we have some
02:48consideration that the danger man is out and he's supposed to be the captain as well. So
02:53let's hope that this series is balanced at the moment.
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