Pak vs Eng – Jordan Cox is set to make his Test debut in New Zealand as Jamie Smith’s paternity cover

Jordan Cox is expected to make his Test debut as England's wicketkeeper during the upcoming tour to New Zealand, while Jamie Smith will miss part of the series due to paternity leave. Cox, who turns 24 on Monday, has been England's reserve batsman in the last five Tests and will get his chance to impress in December.

Smith and his partner are expecting their first child in mid-December, with the birth likely to coincide with England's second or third Test in New Zealand. “Being present at the birth of my son is something I don’t want to miss,” he told the Daily Mail recently. “It will be a memory I cherish more than any other in cricket anyway. If I lost my place because of this, then so be it.”

Cox made his international debut in England's T20I series against Australia last month and will soon be included in the squad for his upcoming white-ball tour to the Caribbean. He was unable to keep wicket for Essex this summer after suffering a horrific finger fracture in the Hundred last year, but he has been working on wicket-keeping with Brendon McCullum in Pakistan.

“It's life, isn't it?” McCullum said of Smith's absence. “People have children and we wish them well for being there and supporting their partners. At this stage it looks like Jamie will probably play the first one (New Zealand Test) and miss the next two. We’re not.’ Absolutely – it’s a bit of Mother Nature – but we know we have Jordan Cox in the squad here.”

It will not worry England that Cox barely lasted last year, as Smith's own selection showed earlier this summer, despite being second choice behind Ben Foakes at Surrey. McCullum believes from personal experience that New Zealand is “a comfortable place” to play wicket and wants to see how Cox – whose glovework he describes as “solid” – performs at Test level.

Cox is a confident character who, by his own admission, was “bored” at 40 when he played for a struggling Kent side last year. He moved to Essex after feeling he “needed a change” that would help him “rekindle” his passion for four-day cricket, and scored four in his first County Championship season for them Hundreds at an average of 65.57.

He filled the Essex fourth spot vacated by Dan Lawrence's move to Surrey, and Lawrence's own recent experiences highlight the problem of being England's reserve batsman. After making a good impression in the Caribbean in March 2022, Lawrence waited more than two years for another chance in the middle order, but was then used as an opener with predictable results. Now he has slipped behind Cox in the pecking order.

Unless England lose a batsman to injury or illness ahead of Thursday's third Test in Rawalpindi, Cox will be included in their white-ball squad and travel to the Caribbean, most likely alongside Rehan Ahmed. Marcus Trescodick, who is the interim white-ball coach for the three ODIs and five T20Is against West Indies, has already left Pakistan ahead of this tour.

Cox should make his ODI debut in this series and has a late chance of securing a place in England's squad for next year's Champions Trophy. But it is the prospect of a Test debut later this year that could calm his restlessness and provide justification for the air miles he will rack up in the first half of the English winter.

“He’s shockingly good at everything he does – especially on the golf course,” McCullum said. “He's one of those people you look at and say he has a high ceiling of talent, especially with the bat in his hand. There's a good chance he'll get the opportunity in New Zealand when Jamie returns home.” Knock down the order and pick up the gloves.

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