The highly-rated 22-year-old hit the headlines earlier this year when he attracted the highest bid at the inaugural Hundred player auction – banking a £390,000 deal with London Spirit.
A left-arm spinner who has been batting in the top three for his county in this year’s Vitality Blast, Coles is a three-dimensional white-ball option who recently featured for Andrew Flintoff’s England Lions against South Africa.
Our 17-player squad is IN! 💪
Excitement building ahead of our five-match IT20 series with India!
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— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 22, 2026
Coles is part of an expanded 17-strong squad for the five-match series, which begins in Durham just two days after the scheduled end of the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge. With six of the T20 squad also involved in that game, greater rotation could be required in a bid to manage workloads.
“James Coles is an exciting addition and has earned his place following his performances with the England Lions and in T20 competitions here and abroad during the past 12 months,” said national selector Marcus North.
“We have selected a larger squad to accommodate for the fact that this series will begin shortly after the Test series against New Zealand is due to conclude which allows us to be flexible.”
Jordan Cox and Sonny Baker are named having made their Test debuts together in last week’s defeat at the Kia Oval, while Saqid Mahmood regains his place having last featured against India in January.
Pace bowlers Brydon Carse and Jamie Overton, recovering from wrist and thigh injuries sustained at the Indian Premier League, miss out.
England T20 squad: H Brook (c), R Ahmed, J Archer, S Baker, T Banton, J Bethell, J Buttler, J Coles, J Cox, S Curran, L Dawson, W Jacks, S Mahmood, A Rashid, P Salt, J Tongue, L Wood.
