England have ripped up a fair chunk of the Lord’s script and will turn out at The Oval on Wednesday with at least four new faces, two of them brand-new to Test cricket. Batter Jordan Cox and fast bowler Sonny Baker will debut; Jofra Archer and Matt Fisher also return. A fifth switch remains possible if wicketkeeper Jamie Smith dashes off for the birth of his second child, in which case Somerset’s James Rew would earn a first cap too.
First, the unavoidable housekeeping. Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were stood down after what the management politely labelled a “breach of team protocols” during celebrations that followed the 115-run win in the first Test. Ollie Robinson’s knee has given way again, while Shoaib Bashir, unused at Lord’s, is left out for balance. Joe Root takes the captaincy for the week.
So, to the fresh blood. Cox, 25, did not even make the initial squad for Lord’s, having spent April and May warming the bench at Royal Challengers Bengaluru. A return to Essex and a County Championship double-hundred changed that. He will bat at No.7 as a specialist, a slightly odd slot yet one Brendon McCullum believes suits him.
“James Rew was our back-up batter in the squad, but that was very much to cover the top-six role,” McCullum said on Monday. “Jordan Cox, he obviously was over at the IPL. We wanted to see him come back and see what he could do before we thrust him into that role for the first time.
“He scored a double-hundred, which is a pretty compelling case. We think that his power and his rounded game is quite a nice fit at No. 7. We still very much see James Rew as an exciting option for us – and he may even get the nod this week, too – but Coxy’s a fine player. He’s been on our radar for a long time across all formats.”
Cox has felt this moment creeping towards him for a while. A planned debut on the 2024 New Zealand tour disappeared when a ball split his thumb in the nets. “I felt like I’d been on the cusp for three years,” he told ESPNcricinfo last month. Wednesday, finally, should close that gap.
At the other end of affairs, Baker is just 23 and owns only a dozen Championship appearances for Hampshire. Even so, he was good enough for England Lions in Australia 18 months ago and was given white-ball caps last summer, although those outings were fruitless. McCullum, not noted for understatement, sees raw pace to work with.
“I genuinely believe that if Sonny’s able to get some early success – if he’s able to get an early wicket in a spell or in his second spell – I think the crowd’s going to get behind him,” McCullum said. “I think the country is going to be behind him, because he plays games a little bit like Mark Wood.
“He’s got good air-speed, he swings the ball, he’s got great skills. But he charges in and he’s got wild celebrations, and you can just see that cricket is what he wants to do. I’m excited to see how he goes and he is very well-planned.”
For the statistically minded, Baker pushes the speed gun into the mid-90s mph (high 140s kph) and can shape the new ball away from right-handers – handy at The Oval where carry is usually trustworthy. If Archer’s elbow holds, England could suddenly field two genuine quicks, a luxury they have rarely enjoyed in home conditions.
Archer himself returns to the Test XI for the first time since 2023. The medical bulletins have been careful, yet his four-over bursts for Sussex suggested enough rhythm to warrant the gamble. Fisher replaces Robinson as the tall, hit-the-seam option.
All of that leaves the batting. Root will slide back into his familiar No.4 spot but with the captain’s armband on. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett remain at the top, Harry Brook at five, and either Smith or Rew behind the stumps. It is a mix that looks a bit experimental, a bit forced, and yet oddly intriguing – classic mid-summer English cricket, really.
Probable XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root (capt), Harry Brook, Jamie Smith / James Rew (wk), Jordan Cox, Jofra Archer, Matt Fisher, Sonny Baker, James Anderson.
New Zealand, remember, trail the series 1-0 and have their own selection wrinkles, but that’s another story. For now, England have decided bold is better than safe, and two young cricketers get the stage they have been chasing.
