Bowler Cook to make England debut against Zimbabwe

Sam Cook, pictured playing for England Lions against Australia A this year, will become the 719th man to play Test cricket for England

Essex bowler Sam Cook will make his England debut in this week's Test against Zimbabwe, coach Brendon McCullum has confirmed.

The 27-year-old, who has been prolific in recent seasons in county cricket, will form an inexperienced bowling attack with Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue and spinner Shoaib Bashir.

Durham bowler Matthew Potts and Somerset batter James Rew are the two players from the 13-strong squad to have been left out.

Zak Crawley has been retained as opener as expected while Ollie Pope returns to number three from the middle order with Jamie Smith back as wicketkeeper after paternity leave.

The match, a four-day Test and Zimbabwe's first in England since 2003, begins at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

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England team: Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (capt), Smith (wk), Atkinson, Tongue, Cook, Bashir.

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England have often favoured pace or variation in height or angle in recent selections but Cook is a more traditional, skilful seam bowler - his debut a reward for his superb County Championship record.

Cook's 227 County Championship wickets were the most by any seamer in the past five years while his overall haul of 321 first-class wickets have come at an average of only 19.85.

But the pace trio of Cook, Tongue and Atkinson contains only 13 Test caps, making it England's most inexperienced pace attack for 22 years.

This will be only the second home Test England have begun without any of Chris Woakes, James Anderson or Stuart Broad - the latter two have now retired - in the past 18 years.

Woakes and Mark Wood, England's two most experienced pace bowlers, are currently injured.

Nottinghamshire's Tongue will offer captain Ben Stokes a faster bowling option and returns for his first Test since the 2023 Ashes.

Hamstring and pectoral injuries prevented him from adding to the two appearances he made that summer, in which he took 10 wickets.

The Zimbabwe Test begins a defining run for England's red-ball side with a five-match series against India to follow from 20 June and the Ashes in Australia this winter.