Star Somerset wicketkeeper-batter James Rew is all set to make his England debut on Wednesday at the Kennington Oval in London during the second Test against New Zealand, after he replaced Jamie Smith in the playing XI.
Rew, who has been impressing with prolific performances in County Cricket, now earns his chance at the highest level as England are forced into a change to their lineup.
Smith was withdrawn from the game after the birth of his second child, permitting him to stay with his partner and family during the important personal moment.
Born in January 2004 in London, Rew, who was a consistent presence in England’s run to the Under-19 World Cup final in early 2022, went on to make his England Lions debut in Sri Lanka the next year.
Rew scored
200 runs in nine matches at the 2022 U19 World Cup at an average of 40, with one half-century to his name.
Rew had to wait until the start of the 2025 season to earn a maiden Test call-up, when he was drafted into the team to face Zimbabwe after an injury to Jordan Cox.
By that stage, Rew had become the youngest Englishman to score 10 first-class hundreds since Denis Compton in 1939. His breakthrough came in the 2023 season, when he cemented his place as Somerset’s first-choice wicketkeeper and amassed over 1,000 runs in the County Championship.
Rew registered five centuries during the campaign, including a career-best 221 against Hampshire at Taunton.
Highly rated by the ECB, Rew made his professional debut at just 17 for a County Select XI against the touring Indian team in 2021, before going on to score his maiden hundreds the next summer.
Rew’s first first-class century came in Somerset’s rain-affected draw at Chelmsford, while his maiden List A hundred arrived in a narrow one-wicket loss to Middlesex.
