James Rew called up to England Test squad after Jordan Cox ruled out

Somerset's James Rew has been added to the England Test squad to face Zimbabwe after Jordan Cox was ruled out with an abdominal muscle injury. Rew, 21, is currently averaging 54.71 in the County Championship this season and wins his first senior call-up.

Cox had been named in the squad after missing a Test debut over the winter due to a thumb fracture suffered in the nets while on tour in New Zealand. He hurt his side when taking a single to move to 99 in Essex's game at Taunton over the weekend, and subsequently retired hurt after bringing up three figures.

Scans have now confirmed that he will not be able to take part against Zimbabwe. It is a setback that continues a cruel run of injury near-misses for Cox, including a badly broken finger sustained during the Hundred in August 2023, which required surgery and further delayed any prospect of an England debut.

Instead, Rew - who scored a fourth-innings hundred in the same County Championship match to anchor Somerset's chase of 321 - will be the spare batter in the group. That innings made him the youngest Englishman since Denis Compton to score 10 first-class centuries.

Wicketkeeper-batter Rew has been on the selectors' radar for some time, having been a key member of the England Under-19s side that finished runners-up at the 2022 U19 World Cup, top-scoring in the final with 95.

He scored his maiden century for Somerset that season, and followed up by scoring 1086 County Championship runs at 57.15, with five hundreds, during the 2023 summer. His white-ball numbers are impressive, with two List A hundreds and a score of 62 not out, on only his second T20 appearance, in last season's Vitality Blast semi-final. He has also featured regularly for the Lions.

The England squad to face Zimbabwe are due to meet this weekend in London before taking part in a training camp at Loughborough. They will then be given some time at home before the start of the Test, at Trent Bridge, on May 22.