Despite being a specialist batsman for over a year, Jordan Cox only sees the upside of being England’s wicketkeeper on the Test tour of New Zealand.
With Jamie Smith missing the three-game tour, which begins in Christchurch on November 28, to give birth to her first child, Cox was selected to don the gloves and bat at the age of seven.
Juggling dual demands, his last first-class outing was in July 2023. A gruesome finger injury sustained at The Hundred the following month saw him only bat at Essex this summer.
The returns were outstanding as Cox, including four centuries in his new county following his move from Kent last winter, scored 918 runs at a respectable average of 65.57 in the County Championship.
don’t panic
Cox, who recently practiced his glove work with Brendon McCullum diligently in Pakistan, was unfazed by his first three Test appearances in an unfamiliar role for 15 months.
“Keeping it for me is something I really enjoy doing,” he said. “I’ve had him since I was 11, and I suffered a pretty serious injury at The Hundred that put me off kiting for a year.
“Now it’s about building. It’s probably been 3 or 4 months since I put it back in storage, so it’s not that long. But as they say, it’s like riding a bike.
“If you get into the team and you’re a good batsman, if you can keep that up, that’s great, it’s just another string to your bow. I’m going to do my best to solidify some sort of role in that team.”
Cox knows a big draw in New Zealand could spell trouble for England in the future, while Smith is almost certain to reclaim his place in time for next summer’s blockbuster series against India.
In the long term, Cox’s best route into the side could be a top-six finish, which is under the microscope after a booming 2024 in which vice-captain Ollie Pope hit three Test hundreds in 25 innings but scored 11 single-digit scores . , he scored just 55 runs in 5 runs in a 2-1 loss to Pakistan.
take it as it comes
Pope has been supported by McCullum and Ben Stokes to retain his place against the Black Caps and Cox knows the vagaries of elite-level cricket make it not worth staring into a crystal ball.
“It’s professional sports, so you never know what’s going to happen,” Cox said.
“Let’s say Popey goes and gets 300 and let’s say I get 100 and win the Test match. What happens then?”
Cox does his best to remain pragmatic while wanting to do well, but his attitude, he admits, can come across as “rude, arrogant or not really caring.”
Cox, who made his T20 debut against Australia last month, is set to make his ODI debut in the Caribbean this week. He revealed that he “doesn’t remember anything about this experience because it happened so quickly.”
West Indies Series
Cox could score three or four in the first ODI against West Indies on Thursday, with Phil Salt expected to keep wicket as Jos Buttler misses the three-match series due to a nagging calf injury.
England trained in Antigua for the first time on Tuesday and among those in attendance was men’s cricket coach Rob Key, who had a lengthy chat with Jacob Bethell in the outfield. This was a surprise inclusion in the Test squad for the match against New Zealand.
Barbados-born Bethell, who made his T20 and ODI debut against Australia last month, has played just 20 first-class matches and has a decent batting average (5 hundreds and no hundreds) at 25.44.
But England have once again appreciated the potential of the Warwickshire all-rounder, who turned 21 last week and has shown glimpses of his talents in two T20s and five ODIs against Australia, providing extra batting and spin cover.
Bethell, Cox and leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed are expected to join the Test squad after the Windies tour.
