Current wicketkeeper-batter for Essex, Jordan Cox, who required appendix surgery after departing from the field due to cramps in the abdomen during Essex’s County Championship game against Surrey on June 30, has recently been selected as a replacement for Test regular Zak Crawley, who will be unavailable due to a fractured finger.
Despite the surgeon advising an 8-12 week hiatus from cricket post-appendix surgery for complete recovery, Jordan Cox made a swift return to the field with the Oval Invincibles in The Hundred 2024. Although he acknowledged he was not at full fitness, he expressed his satisfaction with playing the sport he cherishes, even amidst some discomfort.
Jordan Cox inclusion in England cricket team for Sri Lankan series
When Jordan Cox was rushed into an operating theatre last month to have his appendix removed, he was told his season could be over. Instead, he has rushed himself back ahead of schedule to play for Oval Invincibles in the Hundred, and could spend September involved in England squads across all three formats.
Jordan Cox was out for a Sunday morning walk with his girlfriend in Battersea Park when he noticed a missed call from a number with a +64 dialing code. Brendon McCullum eventually got through to him to tell him he was England’s spare batter for their Test series against Sri Lanka; noticing Cox squatting on the green in his WhatsApp picture, he then asked: “So, did you sink that putt?”
Jordan Cox has also been cleared to start keeping wicket again, nearly a year after an Adam Milne in-ducker broke his finger. It means he is in prime position if England want to take a back-up wicketkeeper on their Test tours to Pakistan and New Zealand this winter
It was this time last year that Jordan Cox made the decision to leave Kent, his boyhood club, for Essex. He has filled the No. 4 spot vacated by Dan Lawrence and has been dominant with the bat: in the Championship, he is averaging a fraction below 70 for the season, with three hundreds, and sees his Test call-up as vindication of his decision to move clubs.
England have called up the Essex batter Jordan Cox and the Nottinghamshire bowler Olly Stone for the three‑Test series against Sri Lanka starting at Old Trafford on 21 August.
The two new players come in for the injured Zak Crawley and Dillon Pennington. But the primary beneficiary of the changes forced on the team looks most likely to be Dan Lawrence who, having been a regular but unused member of many recent squads, is in line to make his first actual appearance for more than two years as a stand-in opener.
The 23-year-old Jordan Cox left Kent to join Essex at the start of the year, partly to further his international ambitions. He toured Pakistan with England’s white-ball squad in 2022 but has yet to play for his country. His performances in the County Championship this year – he is averaging 69.36 with three hundreds – have convinced the England head coach, Brendon McCullum, and the captain, Ben Stokes, to call him up as backup batter.
Jordan Cox recalls how his maiden inclusion in England’s Test squad happened ahead of 3 match test series vs Sri Lanka
England rookie batter Jordan Cox recently recalled his interaction with coach Brendon McCullum ahead of his maiden call-up. He will join the Test squad for the three-game series against Sri Lanka. The right-hander admitted to being surprised as he expected a call-up to the white-ball squad.
The Essex cricketer is one of the most promising batters in their domestic circuit. The 23-year-old averages a promising 39.46 in 51 first-class fixtures alongside a best of 238* and has 7 centuries.
The youngster said that he first interpreted the missed call from McCullum as someone trying to sell him something and called back. Cox elaborated to BBC Essex Sport:
“I was at Battersea Park and I had a missed call. I just thought it was someone trying to sell me something so left it. Then Baz sent me a text saying ‘give me a call back, it’s Baz.’ I called back pretty quick hoping he didn’t choose someone else instead of me. I’ve always felt I was a bit closer to the white-ball side than anything, so to get the call in red-ball is amazing.”
Nevertheless, it’s uncertain if Cox will get to play in the series due to England’s settled middle order.
Jordan Cox willing to learn during the course of the Sri Lankan series
The right-hander also said that he learned a lot during the T20I series against Pakistan in 2022 despite not playing a game. He added:
“My Pakistan tour, seven T20s, I was there for a month, I think I learned more in that month than I have in my five years playing professional cricket. These three games, I think I’ll learn so much from that, it’ll be the best experience of my life, for sure.”
The three-Test series against Sri Lanka begins on August 21 at Old Trafford in Manchester. The remaining two venues for the Test series are the Lord’s and The Oval. The Englishmen, led by Ben Stokes are coming off a three-Test series sweep over the West Indies.