Jordan Cox’s timing has been off. Not with the bat – it’s pinged off the middle for some time. The 24-year-old has averaged more than 60 in the County Championship since joining Essex from Kent two years ago, and he has serious white-ball pedigree. He meets the Spin at the Oval four days after his unbeaten 29-ball 86 in the Hundred on this ground. “It’s the best place in the world to play cricket,” he says.
No, the luck hasn’t gone his way with England. Cox was readying himself for a Test debut in New Zealand last November, penned in as the keeper-bat while Jamie Smith took paternity leave for the three-match series. But days out from the first Test, the stand-in broke his thumb while batting in the nets. It was a moment on which careers can turn. In came Jacob Bethell as Ollie Pope moved down the order, the former establishing himself as English cricket’s Next Big Thing. Cox had to wrestle with a dream snatched at the last, heal up and make his case once again.
