Sports News : The franchise-based The Hundred tournament is currently being played in England, the final match of which will be played on August 18. The Oval Invincibles team has already confirmed its place in the final of Men's The Hundred, while the second team will be decided from the eliminator match between Birmingham Phoenix and Southern Brave on August 17. Just before the final match, the Oval Invincibles team has suffered a major setback due to the decision of the England Cricket Board, which has stopped fast bowler Gus Atkinson from playing.

ECB took the decision keeping in mind the Test series against Sri Lanka

Gus Atkinson, who is part of the Oval Invincibles team in Men's The Hundred, has been barred by the England Cricket Board from playing in this final match keeping in mind the upcoming 3-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Gus took a total of 22 wickets in the Test series against West Indies in July. Gus has played only one match so far in this season of The Hundred in which he conceded 28 runs in 10 balls and could not take any wicket. The final match of The Hundred will be played at the historic Lord's Cricket Ground. The biggest reason behind this decision of the ECB is believed to be the injury of their Test captain Ben Stokes, who has been ruled out of the entire Test series against Sri Lanka. At the same time, before Gus, the ECB had taken a similar decision regarding Chris Woakes.

England will have to win all the matches to remain in the race for the WTC final

The position of the England team in the points table of the World Test Championship 2023-25 ​​is not good right now and it is at number six with 36.54 points percentage. At the same time, they will have to try to win all three matches of this series to remain in the race to reach the final. The first match of the Test series between the two teams will be played at the Manchester ground from August 21.