Jamie Smith’s understudy, Jordan Cox, who was in line to keep the wickets for the entire red-ball tour against New Zealand, might not take the gloves after taking a blow to his hands. Cox was hit on his right hand on Sunday in the nets, a few hours before the final day of the warm-up game versus New Zealand’s Prime Minister XI. The young stumper was immediately taken for scans but things look far from promising. With Jamie Smith also out of the team on paternity leave and the first game only four days away, England might have to conscript a new player for behind-the-stumps duties.
This is not the first instance for Cox where he injured his hand. During the Hundred last year, he suffered a terrible finger injury, which made him relinquish the gloves for Essex during the County Championship this summer. His short return to keeping the wickets for the tour game on Saturday saw him take up this job for the first time after July 2023. However, the injury meant that someone else had to be given the gloves during the practice game and none other than Ollie Pope stepped up for the job.
But England would not want Pope to take on the extra duties besides his all-important top-order batting role. Pope has hardly ever kept the wickets as a first-choice as his last stint with the mitts came all the way back in December 2022 against Pakistan. Hence, the Three Lions might call up another kind of Ollie to fulfill this duty. Durham’s Ollie Robinson (the keeper, not the pacer) or England’s tried and tested Phil Salt might get picked for the tour. But all that thinking will be done once Cox’s scans are out, which will fully open the extent of his injury.
Another, rather more unlikely, option is Jonny Bairstow as England not only need a keeper but a middle-order batter as well. However, the fact that it has been nearly a year since he last played a Test match might act against his inclusion in the squad.
England will start their first Test game at the Hagley Oval on November 28, followed by two games in Wellington. Being sixth on the table, the series remains the team’s last hope to pull off an impossible in order to reach the World Test Championship (WTC) final. However, New Zealand can not be written off especially because they defeated India in India just a few weeks ago and occupy a position two places higher than the Three Lions.
More England players are due to reach New Zealand on Monday after which the visitors will have a full-strength training. It remains to be seen who stands behind the stumps for the trainings. Also, it will be a challenge to see if the team can get the scan results in time to make the decision before the Test game on Thursday.
England Test squad to tour New Zealand:
Ben Stokes (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes
