England open to Test selection shake-up

England could make two significant changes to their XI for the first Test against Sri Lanka as they aim to reverse a recent poor record away from home.

With conditions likely to favour spin bowling in Galle next week, senior quick Stuart Broad could make way for a third spinner for the opening Test from November 6.

Broad, a veteran of 123 Tests, was last dropped from England's Test side in 2012, but with James Anderson, Ben Stokes and one of Chris Woakes or Sam Curran as pace bowling options, Broad's services may be surplus to requirements.

Counting against Broad is his declining batting ability, that's seen him average 10.86 in his past 20 Tests, almost half of his career average of 19.36. Woakes and Curran represent a far more solid batting option down the order.

With Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali appearing as certain starters for the first Test, left-arm tweaker Jack Leach looks to be the one pushing Broad for a spot in the XI.

The other potential change for England directly involves the bowlers – the wicketkeeper.

Surrey gloveman Ben Foakes could replace Jonny Bairstow, who is recovering from an ankle ligament injury he picked up playing soccer during the preceding one-day series.

Foakes was flown in to join England's squad as cover for Bairstow and could find his way into the starting side with the gloves instead of Jos Buttler, England's first-choice limited-overs wicketkeeper.

Bairstow sat out day one of England's warm-up match against the Sri Lankan Board XI in Colombo yesterday, with three players given a session each as wicketkeeper – Buttler, Foakes and Ollie Pope.

Bairstow is expected to miss both warm-up games to give himself the best chance to be fit for the series opener, but skipper Joe Root said the gloveman has a long way to go.

"It's day by day with Jonny at the minute," Root said in the lead-up to the warm-up match

"He's actually made good strides in the last week or so and he's recovered a little bit quicker than we anticipated.

"Jos to keep is probably the likely scenario but the reason we called Ben up is he's a high-quality wicketkeeper and gives us another way balance the side up. It's a nice position to be in having that."

Broad bowled 11 fruitless overs on Tuesday with Leach watching on from the sidelines. The Somerset spinner is expecting to play the second warm-up game starting Thursday in Colombo.

England have lost their past three away Test series – India, Australia and New Zealand – and captain Root says his side might need to reconsider their team composition on foreign soil, which could mean omitting a player of Broad's calibre.

"Obviously our away record has not been what we'd like over the last couple of years," Root said. "But it's an opportunity for this group of players to turn that around. We shouldn't be scared or intimidated by the surfaces or by the make-up of their team.

"But we've been away from home for a number of times now and struggled. So whether we have to find a different formula we'll just have to wait and see.

"We still haven't finalised the team. Stuart could still definitely play a massive part within the three-match series and definitely he is an option in the first game."