Cook earns maiden England Test call up as Crawley retained

Essex seamer Sam Cook has earned a maiden England call up, joining county team-mate Jordan Cox as the only uncapped players in a 13-strong squad for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe.

Cook’s call up is reward for years of consistent performances on the county circuit for a number of years, averaging 19.77 with the ball.

He joins Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts and Josh Tongue as the seam options available to captain Ben Stokes at Trent Bridge from May 22, with Stokes himself fit to feature after having surgery on the hamstring he tore in the third Test of England’s series win in New Zealand in December.

Nottinghamshire fast bowler Tongue is in line to play his first Test in two years after injuries stalled a promising start to his England career which included a five-for on debut against Ireland and five more wickets across the second Ashes Test against Australia at Lord’s in 2023.

Shoaib Bashir has once again been picked as England’s front-line spinner over county team-mate Jack Leach, whose continued selection for Somerset has seen Bashir moved out on loan to Glamorgan. where he has taken two wickets through his first three matches of the season.

Wicketkeeper-batter Cox returns to the fold having been selected in prior squads for Sri Lanka and tours of Pakistan and New Zealand. A broken finger robbed him of a Test debut during the latter where it had been indicated he would deputise for Jamie Smith while on paternity leave.

Despite his recall, he is likely to play understudy again to the returning Smith unless there is a late injury to a top-order batter.

Jacob Bethell (IPL duty) and Brydon Carse (toe injury) are absent from the XI that played in England’s last Test in New Zealand in December, a crushing 423-run defeat in Hamilton, with Ollie Pope expected to return to No 3 in Bethell’s absence.

Zak Crawley, meanwhile, retains his spot despite a disastrous tour of New Zealand in which the opener averaged just 8.66, with a top-score of 21 in six innings and four single-digit dismissals.

Sussex’s Tom Haines and Durham’s Ben McKinney were possible alternatives at the top of the order that were overlooked, as were former Test openers Alex Lees, Haseeb Hameed, Keaton Jennings and Dom Sibley.

England squad for one-off Test vs Zimbabwe: Ben Stokes (capt, Durham), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Sam Cook (Essex), Jordan Cox (Essex), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Matthew Potts (Durham), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire).

Cook ‘deserves’ England Test call up

Injured England fast bowler Mark Wood, speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, said Cook was deserving of a maiden Test call up.

“I think [Cook] probably deserves a chance at some point,” Wood said. “I like him a lot.

“He’s backed up all these numbers in county cricket and, especially in England, it could be the time to see can he step up to this level? I’m sure that he can.

“He bowls very stump-to-stump and batters away at that length where he’s constantly asking you a question.

“He’s relentless at grinding people down and getting them to make a mistake. You’ve just got to ask someone like Joe Root, who will use his crease and walk at people, and he’s struggled against Cook.”

Watch England’s one-off, four-day Test against Zimbabwe, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am (11am first ball) on Thursday May 22.

England men’s Test matches this summer ☀️

All games at 11am UK and Ireland; all live on Sky Sports

vs Zimbabwe: Thursday May 22-Sunday May 25 – Trent Bridge
vs India: Friday June 20-Tuesday June 24 – Headingley
vs India: Wednesday July 2-Sunday July 6 – Edgbaston
vs India: Thursday July 10-Monday July 14 – Lord’s
vs India: Wednesday July 23-Sunday July 27 – Emirates Old Trafford
vs India: Thursday July 31-Monday August 4 – The Kia Oval

Ashes series in Australia 2025-26 🏏

All times UK and Ireland

First Test: Friday November 21-Tuesday November 25 (2.30am) – Optus Stadium, Perth
Second Test: Thursday December 4-Monday December 8 (4.30am) – The Gabba, Brisbane
Third Test: Wednesday December 17-Sunday December 21 (12am) – Adelaide Oval
Fourth Test: Thursday December 25-Monday December 29 (11.30pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
Fifth Test: Sunday January 4-Thursday January 8 (11.30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground