Cox expecting 'best experience' with England squad

Jordan Cox joined Essex from Kent ahead of this season

Essex batter Jordan Cox is ready to carry on playing through the pain barrier for the chance to make his Test debut for England in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.

The 23-year-old was named in the squad as a replacement for opener Zak Crawley, who has been ruled out with a broken finger.

Cox needed appendix surgery after having to leave the field during Essex's County Championship game against Surrey on 30 June.

But he is back playing for Oval Invincibles in The Hundred and told BBC Essex Sport: "I'm still not 100% but now I know I'm not going to do any further damage to my body, I'm more than happy to play with a bit of pain.

"First day (against Surrey) I had stomach cramps and had to go off the field. I thought I'd just eaten too fast and to end up having an operation that might was pretty serious. I was told by the surgeon that I'd be out from all sport for eight to 12 weeks.

"In my head, that was The Hundred over again. Last year I got injured and missed half the games. Potentially missing all of this, I was pretty down. But I managed to get back in four and a half, five weeks."

Cox was caught by surprise when he was contacted by England head coach Brendon McCullum to tell him of his selection for the Test squad.

"I was at Battersea Park and I had a missed call. I just thought it was someone trying to sell me something so left it.

"Then Baz sent me a text saying 'give me a call back, it's Baz.' I called back pretty quick hoping he didn't choose someone else instead of me," Cox said.

"I've always felt I was a bit closer to the white-ball side than anything, so to get the call in red-ball is amazing.

"I didn't think what I did this year would have any effect. There are so many good young players out there, I thought I had to do it for a couple of years and keep smashing that door down."

Cox, who went on an England T20 tour to Pakistan in 2022 without playing a game, is Essex's leading scorer in the County Championship, with 763 runs at an average of almost 70, including three centuries.

The first Test against Sri Lanka starts at Old Trafford on 21 August and whether he gets to play or not, Cox is relishing the opportunity.

He added: "My Pakistan tour, seven T20s, I was there for a month, I think I learned more in that month than I have in my five years playing professional cricket.

"These three games, I think I'll learn so much from that, it'll be the best experience of my life, for sure."