Uncapped Sam Cook named in England squad for Zimbabwe Test

Essex bowler Sam Cook has been called up to England's Test squad for the first time ahead of the one-off match against Zimbabwe at the end of May.

The 27-year-old seamer has received an array of plaudits for his consistency through the years and has taken 318 first-class wickets at an average of 19.77.

He receives the nod for the first time in a callow England attack which is missing the likes of Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Brydon Carse and Olly Stone through injury.

Cook will be accompanied by three other specialist seamers in Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts, while Shoaib Bashir will spear the spin department with Joe Root an option for possible support.

It will be the first England home Test without at least one of Woakes, James Anderson and Stuart Broad since 2007 and the inexperience of their pace attack is highlighted by Atkinson, Tongue and Potts sharing 23 caps between them.

Another prominent Essex figure in line for his England debut is wicketkeeper-batter Jordan Cox, who was included in the Test squad to face New Zealand last year but was ruled out after sustaining a broken thumb.

Captain Ben Stokes has declared himself fit to feature after a period of rehabilitation following surgery on a hamstring injury he sustained on the tour of New Zealand.

Ollie Pope retains his place in the squad alongside Zak Crawley, who has come under the spotlight once again with his disappointing form seeping into the County Championship.

Crawley's outings in New Zealand were extremely underwhelming as he averaged 8.66 with a top-score of 21 in six innings.

Jacob Bethell is absent due to his commitments in the Indian Premier League, while Harry Brook will feature in his first international match since being named England's white-ball captain.

England's Test against Zimbabwe takes place at Trent Bridge in Nottingham and begins on Thursday 22nd May.

They will then welcome India for a five-Test series which commences at Headingley on the 20th June.

England's Test squad to face Zimbabwe

• Ben Stokes (C)
• Gus Atkinson
• Shoaib Bashir
• Harry Brook
• Sam Cook
• Jordan Cox
• Zak Crawley
• Ben Duckett
• Ollie Pope
• Matthew Potts
• Joe Root
• Jamie Smith (Wk)
• Josh Tongue

Jaquob Crooke

• England Men's Cricket Team
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