Seamer Sam Cook will miss Essex’s County Championship clash with Worcestershire at the request of England as a possible Test debut looms.
Cook, among the most impressive county bowlers in the country for several seasons, has been on the fringes of international selection in the past but is yet to make his first appearance in England colours.
A call-up ahead of the four-day Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, which begins on 22 May, appears likely, though, after Essex omitted their attack leader for the third fixture of the county summer at Chelmsford.
Cook has taken 318 first-class wickets at an exceptional average of 19.77, and was a standout performer in Australia with the England Lions over the winter.
While not possessing an England central contract, the national set-up appear to be prioritising the 27-year-old preparation after a number of blows to their seam stocks in recent months.
Mark Wood and Olly Stone look set to miss the entirety of the Test summer, while Brydon Carse is also currently sidelined with a toe injury. Chris Woakes is yet to feature for Warwickshire as he manages an ankle injury, while Gus Atkinson will make his first County Championship appearance for Surrey against Sussex at Hove this week.
Josh Tongue is also set to return for Nottinghamshire having been rested for the second round of fixtures after an excellent outing against Durham to start the summer.
Possible Test contenders Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton are away at the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Cook has long been a cause celebre of the county game, and has been unfortunate to emerge at a time where England are prioritising pace with one eye on the Ashes in Australia this winter.
The longevity of swing bowlers Woakes and James Anderson has also counted against him, with Matthew Potts also favoured at times.
His 13 wickets while away with England A suggested that the highly-skillful Cook could go well on Australian pitches despite his lack of pure pace, and he could now be given an opportunity to press for a spot ahead of a five-match Test series against India later in the summer.
“I give him a lot of credit - he gave up going to franchise cricket to prove his point in the Lions," England selector Luke Wright said of Cook the latest Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
"It's great when we get the players that want to do that, because we get a lot of guys that turn us down for franchise cricket. So, when you get players like him who get away from just the money side of it and prove their point, that's exactly what you want as a selector.
“We have never not thought about Sam Cook. Over the last couple of years, I've spoken to Sam Cook a lot. Each time we picked someone else out of County Cricket, you know, we picked the phone up to Sam Cook to sort of explain why.
"It was explaining to Cooky that you're competing with the likes of Woakes or Potts and those guys you want in a varied attack. They're certainly those guys that are bowling with high skill, not necessarily 85-plus, but they've still got a definite part to play in a bowling attack. And people like Sam, Woakesy are going to be massive going into Australia."
Hampshire youngster Sonny Baker - who has bowled with impressive pace in his first two outings for his new county - and Surrey’s Dan Worrall, capped previously by Australia in white-ball cricket, are among the other bowlers perhaps in consideration for a call-up.
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