Jordan Cox, initially excluded from all three of England’s white-ball series against South Africa and Ireland, has earned a call up for T20I series against Ireland later this month. Cox was adjudged the Player of the Tournament in the recently concluded the Hundred and is in incredible form. He scored 367 runs at 61.16, and a strike-rate of 173.93 during the competition, steering his side the Oval Invincibles to their third title running.
His blistering 40 from just 28 balls in the final helped Invincibles set a respectable target on board. Despite being left out of the squad earlier, Cox said he will continue pushing to get a nod from selectors, until he gets one.
“I’ll try to bang the England door down, if it comes it comes,” he said after his team’s 26-run victory in the final.
Jordan Cox made his debut against Australia in September last year, where he played two T20Is scoring 17 and 0. He was in line for a red-ball debut against New Zealand later the same month, however, a fractured right thumb ruled him out of the Test. England recalled him for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in May but once again a side injury, while playing a county match for Essex against Somerset, meant his debut was delayed further.
He will join the white-ball squad, which will be led by Jacob Bethell, on what will be his first stint as a captain. Many first-choice players, including the captain Harry Brook, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith, have been rested for the series ahead of a busy schedule. The three-match series will begin on September 17, three days after England wrap up the South Africa series.
Earlier, England’s white-ball captain, Brook said every batter who has done well in the Hundred is in the mix for selection, particularly mentioning Zak Crawley and Cox.
“It’s the same with everybody. Everybody’s been talking about Jordan Cox: he’s obviously an unbelievable player, alongside Creeps. You’ve just got to keep on doing it, and be as consistent as you can for a long period of time… It’s good to have competition [for places],” Harry Brook said.
The original squad had only three specialist batters including Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, and Tom Banton, and around six all-rounders. However, England batting lineup’s terrible outing against South Africa in the first ODI, where they were bundled for just 131 runs inside 25 overs, made room for some reconsiderations.
England, though, will have to find a place to slot in Cox, who regularly plays at the first drop, a position occupied by Jos Buttler in the T20I side. With Banton and Salt fixed at the opening spots, England will only have the option to bring him down the order.
England T20I squad to face Ireland: Jacob Bethell (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Jordan Cox, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Luke Wood
Schedule:
17 September 2025: 1st T20I – Ireland v England – Dublin
19 September 2025: 2nd T20I – Ireland v England – Dublin
21 September 2025: 3rd T20I – Ireland v England – Dublin
