Jordan Cox makes sensational revelation about ignoring Brendon McCullum’s call after shock England Test call-up

Uncapped England wicketkeeper-batsman Jordan Cox earned his maiden Test call-up for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. The 23-year-old has hit three hundreds and scored 763 runs across 12 County Championship matches this season including seven centuries.

Jordan Cox recalled his interaction with Brendon McCullum and admitted that he was surprised by the call-up. Jordan Cox also revealed how he first ignored a call from.

"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. 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," Jordan Cox explained saying to BBC Essex Sport.

Jordan Cox Recalls Lessons From Pakistan Tour

Jordan Cox was previously included in England's T20I squad against Pakistan but he did not get to play a game. The right-hander said that he learned so much from the series despite not playing a game.

"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," Jordan Cox said further.

The three-Test series against Sri Lanka begins on August 21 at Old Trafford in Manchester. The remaining two venues for the Test series are the Lord's (August 29- September 2)and The Oval (September 6-10).

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England are led by Ben Stokes who are fresh off a series win against West Indies. They clean-swept the Windies 3-0 to rise up the WTC points table. They are placed sixth on the table as of now. Sri Lanka are placed fourth on the table with two losses against Pakistan followed by two wins against Bangladesh. After the three-match Test series against England, Sri Lanka will play two more Test matches against South Africa in November-December.

England opener Zak Crawley has been ruled out of the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka with a fractured finger. He fractured his finger trying to take a catch in the Edgbaston Test match against West Indies.

Pacer Olly Stone also makes a return to the squad, having last played a Test for England in June 2021. He comes into the squad for another pacer Dillon Pennington who is out with a hamstring injury.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have included Jeffrey Vandersay after his brilliant performance in the series against India. The Test series sees his return to the format. Sri Lanka are led by Dhananjaya de Silva.

Sri Lanka have opted for a familiar batting line-up with openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Nishan Madushka, followed by Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, and Dhananjaya. Kamindu Mendis, apart from his batting brings about his ambidextrous bowling that might be helpful against England who are not known to play spin well.

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