LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) – England have named two uncapped players in Essex duo Sam Cook and Jordan Cox in the squad for the one-off test match against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge later this month, with the cricket board (ECB) announcing the 13-player list on Friday.
The match, which begins on May 22 at Trent Bridge, is Zimbabwe’s first test in England in 22 years and marks the start of the English summer.
England’s pace attack has been depleted with injuries to key bowlers including Mark Wood (knee) and Chris Woakes (ankle).
Brydon Carse is out of action with a foot injury while Olly Stone is still recovering from a knee operation.
Speedster Jofra Archer is not fit for the rigours of test cricket because of an elbow injury even though he is playing in the Indian Premier League T20 competition.
Captain Ben Stokes is returning after hamstring surgery at Christmas and is unlikely to bowl at full tilt.
Cook has picked up 318 first-class wickets and the 27-year-old made a name for himself on the England Lions tour of Australia where he took 13 wickets in three matches.
Cox is a 24-year-old wicketkeeper.
Fast bowler Josh Tongue has recovered from injuries and earned a recall to the test squad for the first time since the 2023 Ashes series against Australia.
Gus Atkinson, who has played 11 tests, will spearhead England’s pace attack with Matthew Potts also in the mix.
England have marquee test series lined up against India and Australia later this year.
England squad: Ben Stokes (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) (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru and Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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