Ex-South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis appointed England's batting consultant for Sri Lanka series

LONDON: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Monday announced the appointment of former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis as the batting consultant for the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.

While Carl Hopkinson has been named as fielding coach, former New Zealand spinner Jeetan Patel has been named as spin bowling consultant.

England Cricket's official Twitter handle released the list of appointments on Monday. Coaches for England's Test tour of Sri Lanka are :

• Head Coach: Chris Silverwood

• Assistant Coach: Paul Collingwood

• Wicketkeeper Consultant: James Foster

• Fielding Coach: Carl Hopkinson

• Batting Consultant: Jacques Kallis

• Bowling Coach: Jon Lewis

• Spin Bowling Consultant: Jeetan Patel

Earlier, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer were rested for England's tour of Sri Lanka as ECB named a 16-man squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka. England and Sri Lanka will play two Tests with the first one starting on January 14.

The England series against Sri Lanka was postponed in March this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and the rearranged tour will now be held behind closed doors in Galle. Rory Burns too will miss the red-ball tour as his wife is expecting their first child during the second week of January.

Ollie Pope, who is recovering from a shoulder injury sustained in September during the Test series against Pakistan, will join the squad and continue his rehab in readiness for the four-match Test series against India starting in February.

After Sri Lanka, England will lock horns in a four-match Test series against India slated to begin from February 5 in Chennai. Archer and Stokes will return for England in the red-ball series against India.

England Test Squad: Joe Root(c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dom Sibley, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Reserves: James Bracey, Mason Crane, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Robinson, Amar Virdi.