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Jordan Cox has been ruled out of England's Test series against New Zealand after sustaining a fractured right thumb during a nets session ahead of the final day of their tour match against Prime Minister's XI. The incident occurred on Sunday morning in Queenstown where England have been preparing for the first Test, which begins on Thursday at the Hagley Oval. Cox was taken to a local hospital for a scan that revealed the extent of the damage. The 24-year-old was all set to make his Test debut with regular keeper Jamie Smith missing the tour for the birth of his first child. A replacement will be announced in due course, with Durham's Ollie Robinson expected to be handed a maiden call-up, ahead of England's white-ball regular Phil Salt and Essex's Michael Pepper, who toured the Caribbean with the limited-overs side. Other keeping options included Somerset's James Rew and Lancashire's Matty Hurst, both of whom are due to tour South Africa with the Lions. Jonny Bairstow, still with a year remaining on his central contract, is unlikely to be recalled at this juncture. Ollie Pope stood in for Cox for the culmination of the warm-up fixture, but England will not want to burden him with more responsibility on top of his duties at No. 3. Having averaged 11 on last month's tour of Pakistan, a strong showing from Cox might have tested the selectors' loyalty to the vice-captain. Cox will now have to wait a little longer to complete the set of caps having debuted in the ODI and T20I formats in the last two months. He will remain with the squad in Christchurch and may opt for a break in Australia before returning home having had little time off since the end of the English summer. "I'm gutted for Jordan (Cox)," Test head coach Brendon McCullum said. "He has been shaping up nicely, both with the bat and gloves, since we got to New Zealand. "That's sport, and unfortunately, these things happen. We will get around him and look after him. He is resilient, and his time will come at some point in the future." The immediate aftermath of Cox's injury left England short of bodies for play on Sunday, resulting in James Anderson donning the whites four months after he was pushed into international retirement. With three players opting out of the match for extra time in the nets, Anderson subbed in the field, alongside captain Ben Stokes who had chosen to sit out the first day's play. Jacob Bethell and Rehan Ahmed will join the rest of the squad in Christchurch on Monday after a few days off following the white-ball tour of the Caribbean which finished last week. Cox's replacement should be on deck in the next 48 hours.
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