SOMERSET batter James Rew has been called up to the England squad for this month’s one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge.

The uncapped 21-year-old, who this week became the youngest Englishman since Denis Compton in 1939 to reach 10 first-class centuries, replaces the injured Jordan Cox, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced today.

Cox suffered a side strain last weekend whilst in the process of scoring a century in Essex’s County Championship loss to Rew’s Somerset.

It is a first senior call-up for wicketkeeper Rew, a left-hander who has enjoyed an outstanding start to the season with the bat. He is currently averaging 54.21 and has scored two centuries, including a match-winning 116 against Essex.

He has previously played for England Under-19s and toured Australia with the Lions last winter.

It is the second time Cox has been denied a potential England debut by injury having also been forced to pull out of the squad to face New Zealand last year with a broken thumb.

England face Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge from May 22.