Jordan Cox admitted he “really struggled” to cope 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.

Cox ended 10 months away from the international stage with a fiery knock of 55 to bring up his maiden international fifty as England defeated Ireland by six wickets in Malahide to win 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.

“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,” Cox said.

“My friends and family, the people closest to me, said it would have happened for a reason. If that 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 take a catch.

But the notion of giving up his spot once again never crossed his mind.

“There was no chance I wasn’t going to bat because I might have to wait for another two years,” Cox added.

“Getting into this team is pretty tough. Hopefully it will be fine but I don’t actually know as I’ve not seen physio yet.

“I’m not going to let the opportunity to play for my country go because I’ve got a sore knee. Just deal with it, battle on.”

Cox rebuilt his confidence this summer with a headline-stealing tournament for Hundred champions Oval Invincibles.

He was the competition’s top run-scorer by a street with 367 and plans to continue channelling the easy-going approach that brought him that success.

“I seem to do well when I’m in that Oval shirt, so why not try and do it everywhere?” he said.

“It’s only a ball coming down, don’t worry about it. Whoever’s bowling it, just have a bit of fun and show what you can do. So that’s what I tried to do here.

“Hopefully New Zealand [England’s next white-ball tour in October] is calling, but what will be, will be.”

Bethell: I couldn’t have dreamt it any better

Bethell, meanwhile, admitted he could not have wished for a better first series as captain and hopes his team can continue their momentum going forward.

“I couldn’t have dreamt it any better really. The rained-out game was a bit unfortunate but to come out on top in my first series as captain is a great feeling,” Bethell told TNT Sports.

“We were nice and aggressive all week. We just wanted to carry on that momentum going forward from South Africa and I think we have done that pretty well.

“I am looking forward to letting [Harry Brook] take back the reins as captain when we head to New Zealand.”

England’s schedule for remainder of 2025

T20 series in New Zealand (October)

• First T20: Saturday October 18 (7.15am) – Hagley Oval, Christchurch
• Second T20: Monday October 20 (7.15am) – Hagley Oval, Christchurch
• Third T20: Thursday October 23 (7.15am) – Eden Park, Auckland

ODI series in New Zealand (October and November)

• First ODI: Sunday October 26 (1am) – Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
• Second ODI: Wednesday October 29 (1am) – Seddon Park, Hamilton
• Third ODI: Saturday November 1 (1am) – Sky Stadium, Wellington

The Ashes in Australia (November 2025-January 2026)

• First Test: Friday November 21-Tuesday November 25 (2.30am) – Optus Stadium, Perth
• Second Test: Thursday December 4-Monday December 8 (4.30am) – The Gabba, Brisbane
• Third Test: Wednesday December 17-Sunday December 21 (12am) – Adelaide Oval
• Fourth Test: Thursday December 25-Monday December 29 (11.30pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
• Fifth Test: Sunday January 3-Thursday January 7 (11.30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground