Ben Gardner looks at who’s next in line to make an England Test debut, with two new caps handed out for the first Test against New Zealand.

James Bracey and Ollie Robinson became the 697th and 698th men to play Test cricket for England today, though they were awarded caps 698 and 699. Alan Jones, who holds the dubious distinction of having scored the most first-class runs without a Test cap, was given cap 696 in 2020, having played in a series against a Rest of the World XI in 1970, which was considered a Test encounter at the time but later had that status revoked.

It means that the 699th man to make an England Test debut will have the honour of receiving England’s 700th cap. But who that player is likely to be is unclear. Robinson is arguably England’s eighth choice seamer, with injuries to Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer and rest periods for Sam Curran and Chris Woakes paving his path to a Test debut, and Bracey is behind Ben Foakes, Jos Buttler, and perhaps Jonny Bairstow in the queue for a Test wicketkeeper’s spot, with Haseeb Hameed, who made his Test debut in 2016, seemingly the next cab off the rank batting-wise. England have a plethora of cricketers with at least some experience, a welcome side-effect of the rest and rotation policy. But there are some uncapped cricketers who will be hoping to get a go before long.

Matt Parkinson

In the midst of what could be a breakthrough season in first-class cricket, Matt Parkinson may well get a go at some point just to see how good he could be. An English leg-spinner with an exceptional red-ball record is already a rarity, but there’s more that marks Parkinson out as unique; according to CricViz, he bowls the ball slower, and drifts it and spins it more than any other bowler in the world right now. While Jack Leach is England’s first-choice spinner, and was left out for the first Test of the summer, Parkinson might now be second in line after Dom Bess’ struggles in the winter, and if a surface does look like turning, or England get to Australia and think a finger-spinner won’t do the job, then it might be Parkinson that gets a go.

Sam Billings

While he’s often pigeonholed as a white-ball cricketer, Sam Billings has a creditable first-class record, and still holds hopes of staking a proper claim for a Test place. He was a surprise call-up when Foakes was ruled out, but is talented enough to carve himself into being an option at some point. If he is to be England’s next debutant however, you fancy something unfortunate would have to happen to Bracey by the second New Zealand Test. After that, Jos Buttler is likely to be back in contention, with Foakes not far behind. Still, England’s wicketkeepers often find strange ways of getting injured, so that’s not a total impossibility.

Saqib Mahmood

Saqib Mahmood has been in an England Test squad before, when they toured New Zealand in 2019, but didn’t get a game. His opportunities have come in white-ball cricket, and he’s yet to build up a body of work in the longer format. He’s well down the queue, if such a thing exists anymore. However, he’s also a highly intelligent, skilful bowler, who showed his ability to extract reverse swing when claiming his maiden first-class five-for to win a tense Roses derby at Old Trafford. Those are weapons that could come to the fore in Australia, and with Chris Silverwood stating his intentions to make sure there are no debutants in the Ashes, it’s just possible Mahmood could get a go towards the end of the summer, to blood him in a slightly less hostile environment.

AN Opener

If you look through the lens not of who’s most likely to stake a claim, but of where is a gap most likely to appear, then it’s the top three that seems the most likely place. Dom Sibley, Rory Burns and Zak Crawley have all suggested they could be Test players of permanence in their short careers so far, but each also averages less than 35, and is in danger of a bad run putting them under pressure. While Hameed is the most likely to benefit, it might be if the right opener puts together the right run at the right time, they could leapfrog the elegant Boltonian.

Chris Dent averages 41 in first-class cricket since the start of 2015, and Gloucestershire fans can’t understand why he’s not talked about more. Jake Libby averages 59.74 since the start of 2020 and came within touching distance of a long-innings batting record. And Ben Slater averages only slightly less in that time, seemingly transformed by a move to Nottinghamshire.

AN All-rounder

It’s not out of the question that England’s ongoing Test goes so badly that England decide a change of course is needed. This game marks the first time since the first Test of the 2013/14 Ashes that England have fielded an XI without a proper all-rounder in it, and if the four quicks selected do come out of it badly, then England may choose to call up a Stokesian stopgap for one Test until the Durham great is back in contention. If they do, Gloucestershire’s Ryan Higgins might just be best placed, with Somerset’s Tom Abell and Lewis Gregory and Derbyshire’s Matt Critchley also viable uncapped options. And then there’s Darren Stevens… if only.