Sam Cook rested by Essex as prospect of England Test debut grows

Sam Cook's wait for a Test debut could be coming to an end. The seamer has been rested for Essex's upcoming County Championship clash at home to Worcestershire, with a view to playing in England's opening Test this summer against Zimbabwe next month.

Cook boasts 318 first-class wickets at an average of 19.77, and has long been on England's radar without ever earning a cap. That now looks set to change with Essex collaborating with England to manage the 27-year old's workloads ahead of the one-off fixture with Zimbabwe, which begins on May 22 at Trent Bridge.

It was at the same venue last week that Cook took five wickets in a draw with Nottinghamshire, including 4 for 44 in the first innings, with men's managing director Rob Key in attendance. Though it may seem overly cautious to rest Cook after just two rounds of the Essex's Division One campaign, he has already bowled 75 overs across four innings, taking his seven wickets at 28.42. His domestic tally for the club is now 301 dismissals at 18.30.

The right-armer came close to debuting last summer, only for a hamstring injury to rule him out of contention for the three-match Test series against West Indies. Now, injuries to others provide a clearer route into the squad, both for Zimbabwe and the five-Test series against India, although he could yet be vying for a spot with the 22-year-old fast bowler Sonny Baker, who was handed a development contract in February, and has been rested by the ECB for Hampshire's home match against Somerset this week.

Mark Wood and Olly Stone are ruled out until the end of July, while there remains uncertainty over Brydon Carse's recovery from a toe issue. Chris Woakes is also dealing with an ankle issue. Dillon Pennington, the Nottinghamshire seamer who featured in England's Test squads last summer, is also out of action for the time being with a side strain.

Surrey's Gus Atkinson is in line for his first appearance of the season this week, with Josh Tongue returning for Nottinghamshire after resting for the second round. The squad for the opening Test will be selected in the next two weeks, and no players will be called back early from the IPL.

Despite Cook's injury at the end of last May against Kent, he finished the 2024 season with 43 wickets at 17.30. And he restated his case over the winter on an England Lions tour of Australia, taking 13 wickets including 3 for 58 in the unofficial Test against Australia A.

His presence alone on that trip impressed selectors, having spurned Lions commitments the previous winter to focus on honing his white-ball skills at the Abu Dhabi T10 and SA20. This time, his priorities flipped.

"I give him a lot of credit - he gave up going to franchise cricket to prove his point in the Lions," England selector Luke Wright said on the latest Sky Cricket podcast. "It's great when we get the players that want to do that, because we get a lot of guys that turn us down for franchise cricket. So, when you get players like him who get away from just the money side of it and prove their point, that's exactly what you want as a selector."

Despite not being on the ECB's central contract list, Cook has had regular conversations with the management, particularly as to where he sits in their bowling stocks. The recent onus on bolstering the battery of quicks has seen Atkinson, Josh Hull and Carse handed debuts since the start of last summer, while Baker's development contract was earned through his exploits on that same Lions tour.

However, the desire for a balanced attack means Cook's skills have him in a separate queue, vying with Woakes and Matthew Potts for the "mid-to-low" 80mph seamer slot, following James Anderson's retirement.

Ahead of the Ashes, Cook's recent work in Australia highlighted his red-ball skills, transferring them from the regular Dukes ball to the newly designed Kookaburra with a more prominent wide seam. He showcased as much last season when taking 23 wickets with the latter across four rounds of the County Championship.

"We have never not thought about Sam Cook," Wright said. "Over the last couple of years, I've spoken to Sam Cook a lot. Each time we picked someone else out of County Cricket, you know, we picked the phone up to Sam Cook to sort of explain why.

"It was explaining to Cooky that you're competing with the likes of Woakes or Potts and those guys you want in a varied attack. They're certainly those guys that are bowling with high skill, not necessarily 85-plus, but they've still got a definite part to play in a bowling attack. And people like Sam, Woakesy are going to be massive going into Australia."

Though Essex will miss Cook, even with Sri Lankan quick Kasun Rajitha recruited for their next five matches, they should benefit in the long term from England's vested interest in their premier seamer. Cook's contract with the club is set to expire at the end of the summer, and concrete international recognition will likely prevent him joining the litany of bowlers who have recently moved to Test match venues in a bid to further their England causes.