England will arrive at The Oval on Wednesday with a side that looks very different to the one that won at Lord’s. Jamie Smith is out on paternity leave after the birth of his second child, so Somerset keeper-batter James Rew comes in and goes straight to No. 6. Two other newcomers, Jordan Cox and quick Sonny Baker, also win first caps, making it three debutants and five overall changes in one hit.
The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed the late switch on Tuesday evening. “Uncapped wicketkeeper-batter James Rew has been called into the England Men’s XI for the second Rothesay Test against New Zealand in place of Jamie Smith,” the statement read. “Smith has been withdrawn from the Test match following the birth of his second child earlier today, enabling him to remain with his partner and family.”
Rew, 22, has been churning out County Championship runs – 11 hundreds since April 2023 – and is the third-highest scorer in Division One over that period, behind only Dom Sibley and Joe Clarke. Last summer he described his batting as “trying to make it really hard for [teams] to get me out”, adding, “I’m not necessarily as destructive as a lot of modern-day players.” Those numbers and a slightly broader range of strokes, honed through a stint in Somerset’s T20 side, have nudged him ahead of the keeping queue.
Younger brother Thomas is widely tipped to follow. He captained England to the Under-19 World Cup final this year and, conveniently for the family scrapbook, posted a maiden first-class hundred for Somerset only a few days ago.
Cox slots in at No. 7 as a specialist batter – handy insurance on a surface that can start flat and turn patchy. Baker, quick and skiddy, replaces Gus Atkinson, who along with Ben Stokes is suspended after a breach of team protocols. Ollie Robinson is still injured, Shoaib Bashir misses out for balance and Jofra Archer plus Matthew Fisher return to the attack.
The volume of fresh faces is unusual. England have not fielded three male Test debutants in the same match since July 2017, when Dawid Malan, Toby Roland-Jones and Tom Westley walked out against South Africa – also at The Oval. It is the first time since Headingley 1993 that the XI contains as many as five players with no more than one previous cap.
Experience, then, sits heavily on Joe Root’s shoulders. Root, standing in for Stokes, owns 164 of the 281 caps among the group. He is simultaneously the side’s leading run-scorer and wicket-taker, courtesy of a career’s worth of off-spin on turning days.
“It’s a very exciting team,” Root said, perhaps sensing the raised eyebrows. “There’s a lot of youth, a lot of guys at the start of their journey, and whenever someone comes into Test cricket, that brings a lot of energy to the squad, so it’s a nice position to be in: 1-0 up in the series, and a great opportunity ahead this week to hopefully go and win a ser.”
Root’s optimism is not without foundation. The pitch generally rewards stroke-makers early and tends to quicken on days two and three, a window Archer, Fisher and Baker will want to exploit. New Zealand, beaten by six wickets at Lord’s, must adapt quickly or risk conceding the series with a match to spare.
England XI (probable): Zak Crawley, Emilio Gay, Joe Root (capt), Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, James Rew (wk), Jofra Archer, Matthew Fisher, Sonny Baker, Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach.
Key numbers
• 3 debutants – first time since 2017.
• 5 players with ≤1 cap – first time since 1993.
• 11 Championship hundreds for Rew since 2023.
The scoreline is 1-0, the squad is green, and the chance is there for three young cricketers to write instant Test memories. Not neat, not planned, but very much on brand for England’s current ride.
