Jordan celebrates recall as he helps England win series

JORDAN Cox admits he “really struggled” to cope to with the injury blow that ruined his chance of a Test debut with England - and was never going to let his white-ball comeback go the same way.

- By RORY DOLLARD

Cox ended 10 months away from the international stage with a fiery knock of 55 as England defeated Ireland by six wickets in Malahide to take their T20 series 2-0.

The 24-year-old had been inked in for the three-match Test series against New Zealand last December, only for his big moment to be dashed when he broke his thumb in the nets.

His ill-fortune opened the door for Jacob Bethell, whose eye-catching displays have seen him leapfrog Cox across all three formats.

Having bided his time for another chance, Cox gave a timely glimpse of his ability in a 35-ball stay that included four sixes and four fours.

Revisiting the challenges he had overcome to get his shot, which saw him seek out the services of an independent sports psychologist, he said: “I really struggled after New Zealand.

“To have the opportunity to play for your country in Test cricket is something that I always dreamt of doing, and am still dreaming about doing, so to get that taken away was really hard.

“My friends and family, the people closest to me, said it would have happened fora reason. Ifthat means I wasn’t quite ready to play Test cricket yet, that was someone telling me I wasn’t ready.

“There's a reason why I didn't play; there was a reason why Bethell did and why he did so well. But I really struggled with it.”

It briefly looked as though Cox’s bad luck had struck again when he limped from the field after jarring his knee while sliding to catch Ross Adair.