Bethell hurt his knee against India, and it has cost him England’s whole Pakistan series
Jordan Cox goes in at three, Dan Lawrence is back after two years, and Joe Root has the first squad of his second spell as captain.
Aug 7, 2026
Jacob Bethell hurt his right knee during England’s ODI series against India last month. On Thursday the selectors confirmed what it has cost him: the whole three-Test series against Pakistan, which starts at Headingley on Wednesday 19 August.
The 16-man squad named for the first two Tests is also the first Joe Root has been handed since he took the captaincy back after Ben Stokes retired. It is not a rebuild. It is a middle order rearranged around one absence, with two recalls that have been coming for a while.
Cox moves up to three
Jordan Cox takes the No. 3 spot Bethell had made his own. Cox made his Test debut against New Zealand earlier this summer, and he now gets one of the harder jobs in the side against a Pakistan attack that has just won a Test in the Caribbean.
Marcus North, England’s national selector, said Cox “is well regarded as one of the most exciting talents in English cricket, and will have the opportunity to bat at 3.” That is a lot of runway for a batter this early in his Test career, and England clearly want him to have it.
Lawrence back after two years
Dan Lawrence returns for the first time in two years and will bat at six. He has had the kind of county season that makes a recall difficult to avoid, scoring heavily in Division One for Surrey, and North called it “an exceptional season so far.”
Lawrence at six alongside Harry Brook and Jamie Smith gives England a lower middle order that can move a game quickly. Whether it gives them one that can bat time when the ball starts reversing is what the series will actually decide.
Pope, Carse and Cook come back in
Ollie Pope and Brydon Carse are both back for the first time since the Ashes. Pope, dropped during that series, returns as batting and wicketkeeping cover; Carse comes back from the injury that kept him out for much of the summer. Sam Cook is in after a single Test appearance against Zimbabwe last year.
The full squad: Joe Root (captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Jamie Smith and Josh Tongue.
Emilio Gay keeps the opening job he inherited when Zak Crawley was dropped for the New Zealand series in May, and Crawley is still nowhere near the squad. North framed the selection as one that “balances rising talent with the experience needed against a quality Pakistan team,” which is selector language for picking two young batters and trusting the bowlers to cover the difference.
Root’s first real test in the job
England go to Headingley without Stokes, without Bethell, and with a coaching staff still in transition. Marcus Trescothick is in interim charge; Stephen Fleming, appointed as the next Test head coach, does not take over until December. Root is leading a World Test Championship series with the handover unfinished behind him.
Pakistan will not arrive short of confidence, having just won in Port of Spain to level their series in the West Indies. Three Tests at Headingley, Lord’s and Edgbaston, and a squad picked only for the first two of them. England have deliberately left themselves room to change their minds, which with this much inexperience in the top six looks like the sensible call.