Fresh off completing a 3-0 Test whitewash of Pakistan at Edgbaston, England move straight into white-ball cricket against Sri Lanka, who arrive for a tour running from September 15 to 27 comprising three T20Is followed by three ODIs.
The T20I series opens at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton on September 15, before moving to Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on September 17 and Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester on September 19. The three ODIs follow at Chester-le-Street on September 22, Leeds on September 24 and The Oval on September 27. Harry Brook captains England across both formats.
Sri Lanka's T20I squad underwent a late change before the tour: original captain Kusal Mendis, still working through a right hamstring injury picked up at the Lanka Premier League and out of action since July 19, was ruled out of the T20Is on September 4 alongside seamer Binura Fernando, with Pavan Rathnayake and Dilshan Madushanka called up as replacements. With Mendis unavailable, vice-captain Charith Asalanka was named T20I captain for the tour. The rest of the squad blends experience and pace options: Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana feature alongside seamers Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga and Nuwan Thushara. Mendis has not been ruled out of the ODI leg and remains its named captain, with Asalanka positioned to deputise there too if the injury keeps him out longer.
England's T20I squad is built around Harry Brook, Jos Buttler and Ben Duckett at the top of the order, with Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson leading the pace attack and Adil Rashid the frontline spin option. Jordan Cox, Will Jacks and uncapped or lightly-capped names such as Sonny Baker and James Coles round out a squad that gives England's selectors a look at fringe players before a busier international calendar later in the year. The ODI squad brings back Joe Root, who was not required for the T20Is, alongside Rehan Ahmed and Henry Crocombe.
Neither side arrives at this series with a settled first-choice XI. England have used the white-ball leg to test squad depth immediately after a Test series that ran deep into their seam-bowling resources, while Sri Lanka's T20I captaincy change less than two weeks out from the first match adds an element of unpredictability to how Asalanka manages an attack missing its first-choice gloveman in Mendis. With both boards using this series partly as a audition ahead of fuller-strength squads later in the year, the results may say less about either team's best XI than a settled series would, even though the matches themselves count fully in both nations' bilateral records.
Ball-by-ball coverage of all three T20Is and the ODI series that follows is available on SportGod's live matches page, with AI-powered match predictions published ahead of each fixture and fantasy contests open in SportGod's free games.
Squad lists, the schedule and the captaincy change are verified against same-day board and broadcaster announcements, current as of September 14, 2026.
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