Henry Crocombe has taken 104 first-class wickets at an average of 36.32. Uncapped Sussex pace bowler Henry Crocombe has been called into England's squad for the second Test against New Zealand as cover for Ollie Robinson.

County team-mate Robinson, who took seven wickets on a brilliant return for England cricket in the first-Test win at Lord's, experienced knee soreness after a training session on Saturday and will have a "precautionary" scan on Sunday. The second match of the three-Test series starts on Wednesday at Trent Bridge.

Crocombe, 24, has taken 21 wickets at an average of 28.61 in seven County Championship matches for Sussex this season and claimed 4-65 for England Lions against South Africa A last month.

England are without seamer Gus Atkinson and captain and all-rounder Ben Stokes for the Test after they were involved in an incident in a nightclub after the victory at Lord's. Crocombe has been namechecked by England coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key in recent weeks.

Josh Tongue, Jofra Archer, Sonny Baker, and Matt Fisher are the other seamers in the 16-man squad. Crocombe made his first-class debut for Sussex aged 19.

Crocombe's selection may raise eyebrows, given other recent picks such as Sam Cook from Essex and Matthew Potts from Durham have been overlooked, but it should not be a big surprise. When England named their squad for the first Test, Key said Crocombe had "really kicked on" this season.

A product of Sussex's academy, Crocombe was first picked by England Lions in 2024 before struggles with injury. It was when he began this season with his maiden five-wicket haul - and nine in the match - against Leicestershire that he began to seriously catch the eye.

England squad for second Test: Joe Root (Yorkshire, captain), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Sonny Baker (Hampshire), Shoaib Bashir (Derbyshire), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Jordan Cox (Essex), Henry Crocombe (Sussex), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Matthew Fisher (Surrey), Emilio Gay (Durham), James Rew (Somerset), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Jamie Smith (Surrey, wk), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire).

Stokes returns to Durham training after England omission. New Zealand call up Young after Williamson retirement.