Jordan Cox to bat at No 3 for England in first two Tests against Pakistan starting Wednesday

Jordan Cox will bat at No 3 for England in the first two Tests of the three-match series against Pakistan starting on Wednesday, England selector Marcus North confirmed. The move comes with the absence of the injured Jacob Bethell.

Cox’s England trajectory has been interrupted and varied: a handful of white-ball appearances, a Test debut lost two years ago after he broke a thumb in the buildup, and an England cap this summer at No 7 when he filled in while Ben Stokes was suspended against New Zealand at the Oval. He has opened for Kent for approximately two years in county cricket, making the Test No 3 assignment a new challenge. Cox’s only prior first-class outing at No 3 was in 2019 against Nottinghamshire, when Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed him twice.

Cox said North delivered a clear message about the role: “Northy didn’t have to go: ‘You’re batting at three in these two Test matches’, but he did. This is 100% – unless I get injured,” Cox said. He added: “Clarity’s one of the best things in sport.” Cox also reported North’s instruction to him: “do what you’ve been doing, don’t change the way you’ve been playing in county cricket, go have fun and embrace the challenge”.

At county level Cox has been a force at No 4 for Essex, including a 201-ball 204 against Leicestershire in June. He said: “I don’t think I’ve ever batted three before but I’ve opened for probably two years in county cricket for Kent. So look, it will be fun, I’m looking forward to it.” Cox had a brief break to prepare after his Hundred campaign with Welsh Fire concluded with a group-stage exit.

England’s preparations at Headingley were affected by player availability: Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson — winners in Sunday’s final between Trent Rockets and Manchester Super Giants — missed a rain-interrupted training session on Monday but are expected to feature in Tuesday’s practice. A 16-man squad contains multiple seam options should those players have issues. Brydon Carse, who featured for Sunrisers Leeds in Friday’s Eliminator at the Oval, was among those bowling as he aims to return to Test action since the Ashes.

Pakistan are yet to decide if Babar Azam will be fit for the first Test after the captain suffered a blow to his right hand during a warm-up fixture at Beckenham and retired hurt; Abbas said a decision on Babar’s participation will be taken on the day of the match. “Hopefully he will be fine,” said Abbas. “The medical team is looking at him. He played some balls [at training], a few throw-downs.” Abbas sounded more hopeful about the availability of Shan Masood, who broke a finger in the first Test against West Indies last month and, the report notes, scored a ton on Pakistan’s last Test tour of England six years ago and has made County Championship hundreds for Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire.

Charlie Dean will captain England in next month’s three one-day internationals against Ireland in the absence of Nat Sciver-Brunt, who is managing her fitness, with Danni Wyatt-Hodge also unavailable; senior players Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Bell and Amy Jones will miss the Ireland series. England’s squad to face Ireland is: C Dean (captain), M Bouchier, A Capsey, K Chathli, T Corteen-Coleman, S Dunkley, L Filer, D Gibson, J Grewcock, F Kemp, R MacDonald-Gay, C Pavely, G Potts, M Villiers, I Wong.