England called up uncapped batter Cox alongside Stone after several injuries hit their camp before the Sri Lanka series. Cox was called up to replace an injured Crawley, who sustained a finger injury during the preceding West Indies Tests, and Stone came in for uncapped pacer Dillon Pennington, who was ruled out with a hamstring injury. However, neither featured in the playing XI for the first Sri Lanka Test in Manchester.

The decision prompted the team to release Cox and Stone for the County Championship Division 1 matches. Cox will return to Essex for their match against Hampshire tomorrow (August 22), while Stone will feature in Nottinghamshire's match against Durham, starting on the same day.

"England Men's Test squad have released Jordan Cox and Olly Stone to play in the next round of the Vitality County Championship Division One starting tomorrow. They will leave Emirates Old Trafford later this morning. Cox will play for Essex in their match against Hampshire at the Utilita Bowl, Southampton and Stone will travel to Seat Unique, Riverside for Nottighamshire's visit to Durham," read an ECB release.

Dan Lawrence, who has warmed the bench for quite some time now, has been promoted to open in place of Crawley, while Matt Potts has replaced skipper Ben Stokes to shore up the seam attack.

Mark Butcher, on the latest Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast, has questioned England’s decision to not replace injured skipper Ben Stokes with a like-for-like seam all-rounder in the squad for the Sri Lanka Tests.

Read here ➡️ https://t.co/E9HdYpiqnl pic.twitter.com/nFNmXK2wnv

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 20, 2024

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