“When Ed [Smith] called me up this morning, I was a little bit speechless,” Gregory, who is also part of the 16-member pre-Ashes training camp, said. “I didn’t really know what to say but it’s exciting and I can’t wait to get cracking.”

The Somerset all-rounder, along with pacer Olly Stone, was included in the England squad for the four-day Test beginning on July 24, with Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, both recovering from side strains, omitted from the 13-man list.

.@benjonescricket of @CricViz analyses the credentials of Jason Roy, Olly Stone and Lewis Gregory, who could all make their England Test debuts next week.https://t.co/q2tp7ogbte

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 17, 2019

While it’s the first instance of Gregory receiving a Test call-up, he had been previously drafted into the ODI squad after the 2015 Cricket World Cup, but did not feature. Since then, his county accomplishments have been on a steady rise.

“Obviously that was one of the best moments of my career so far,” Gregory recalled. “I was quite raw in 2015, I hadn’t played a huge amount of cricket, and I think going back into the wilderness of county cricket, you get a lot of opportunity to play.”

Part of the preparatory camp this weekend, Gregory will be hoping to seal a berth in the Ireland Test, which could serve as an ideal curtain-raiser ahead of the Ashes.

“It’s always been a dream of mine, and I’ve always believed that I was good enough and have the ability to play international cricket,” he added.

“The last two summers, I’ve put in performances consistently enough to raise that belief. And I always knew that, if I kept performing, there would be an opportunity at some stage. If next week’s that, then hopefully I’ll go and perform and put my hand up for an Ashes call as well.”