Cox and Bethell to make England debuts v Australia

Jordan Cox and Jacob BethellImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Wednesday's first T20 begins at 18:30 BST with live commentary on BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app

Batter Jordan Cox and 20-year-old batting all-rounder Jacob Bethell will make their England debuts in the first T20 against Australia on Wednesday in Southampton.

Jamie Overton will also play his first T20 for England, adding to his one Test cap, which came against New Zealand in 2022.

Bowler Saqib Mahmood makes his first England appearance since March 2023 having overcome a second stress fracture in his back.

Three T20s against Australia are followed by five one-day internationals with England picking a youthful squad as they look to the future after relinquishing their T20 and 50-over world titles in the past 10 months.

Marcus Trescothick will act as interim coach throughout the series following the departure of Matthew Mott earlier this summer.

Brendon McCullum has been appointed permanent head coach, combining the white-ball role with his job in charge of the Test side, but does not start the role until the new year.

Phil Salt will captain the side during the T20s in the absence of injured skipper Jos Buttler.

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England XI for first T20: Phil Salt (captain/wicket-keeper), Will Jacks, Jordan Cox, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Reece Topley

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Essex's Cox, an aggressive 23-year-old right-handed batter, was part of England's Test squad for the series against Sri Lanka which concluded on Monday but did not play.

He was also the top scorer for men's champions Oval Invincibles in this year's Hundred, scoring 214 runs in seven matches with a strike-rate of 143.62.

Barbados-born Bethell first emerged as part of England's Under-19 squad that were runners-up at the 2022 World Cup.

The left-hander, who also bowls left-arm spin, scored 166 runs in seven innings for Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred this year and was part of the Birmingham Bears side that reached the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast.

He moved to England as a 12-year-old after receiving a cricket scholarship at Rugby School.

"I've coached him a couple of times through the England Under-19s programme, going back a couple of years, and it was really evident to me that he's going to be a superstar," Trescothick said.

"We've seen it a little bit in The Hundred. We've seen various scores that he's made, catches that he's taken and a little bit when he was bowling.

"I think you're going to enjoy watching him going forward over the next few years."

Bethell's Warwickshire team-mate Dan Mousley, Hampshire seamer John Turner and left-armer Josh Hull, who made his Test debut in the third Test against Sri Lanka, are the other uncapped players in England's squad but have been overlooked for Wednesday's series-opener.

England omitted Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali - the latter has since retired from England duty - from the squad but seven of the T20 World Cup squad from earlier this year make the XI.

Salt, who will also keep wicket in Buttler's absence, will open with Will Jacks, while all-rounders Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran, plus bowlers Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer and Reece Topley keep their places.

Surrey's Overton will play as a batter only as he recovers from a back injury.