New Zealand v England Test Match Series

Squad
Stokes ©
Crawley
Duckett
Pope
Root
Brook
Cox
Bethell
Woakes
Atkinson
Carse
Potts
Stone
Ahmed
Leach
Bashir

1st Test Christchurch Nov 28th - Dec 2nd
2nd Test Wellington 6 - 10 Dec
3rd Test Hamilton 14 - 18 Dec

Can think of a few batsmen who have had very good county seasons with good reason to feel rather disappointed not to be selected.

Whilst the selectors under this regime have unearthed some talent, equally there has been players overlooked. They seem to more & more pick on potential & character, gone are the days that those with the most runs, wickets or best averages, & to an extent I agree.
With Smith unavailable is Cox the 2nd best wicket keeper, that remains to be seen, he hasn't done in for 15 months due to a finger injury, he has however scored runs. Bethell on the other hand has a modest first class record. To be fair he was a name that popped into my head when I was thinking of dropping Pope, & we are short of left handers, From what I have seen he has the temperament & talent to play all formats, however he is there as cover & Pope will play all 3 Tests I believe.
3 spinners seem one too many for New Zealand, but it gives them flexibility & variety.

New Zealand bowler and captain Tim Southee has announced he will retire from test cricket after the series against England with his last match being at his home ground of Seddon Park in Hamilton.

The tests will be on tnt sports if you're unsure who has the rights
Could be a mad three test match series especially both sides like to play aggressive

New Zealand v England 1st Test - Christchurch Day 1 Close
Toss - England elected to bowl
New Zealand 319-8 (83 overs) Williamson 93 Latham 47 Phillips 41 no Ravindra 34 Bashir 4=69 Atkinson 2-61 Carse 2-67

New Zealand (Playing XI)
Latham ©, Conway, Williamson, Ravindra, Mitchell, Blundell (W), Phillips, Smith, Southee, Henry, O'Rourke

England (Playing XI)
Crawley, Duckett, Bethell, Root, Brook, Pope (w), Stokes ©, Woakes, Atkinson, Carse, Bashir

New Zealand award a Test Match debut to Allrounder Nathan Smith. With England forced to re-shuffle their side after keeper Jordan Cox who was set to debut broke a finger, Bethell has been drafted in to make his debut & set to bat at No.3 with Pope taking the gloves. Durham's Ollie Robinson will join the squad as cover in time for the 2nd Test.
I really hope that throwing Bethell in at the deep-end doesn't go the same way as the Dan Lawrence opening experiment. Lawrence had been the reverse batter for 2 years & was asked to fill a role he had done only a handful of times. After an average return he hasn't made this squad. Bethell has less experience & has never batted No.3 in First Class Cricket. His age should ensure a long International career, he is clearly a rising star, RCB have paid out close on 250K to play in this years IPL. Pope could make runs at No.6, but is he continues to fail & Bethell shines it will leave the selectors with a tough decision when Smith returns to take the gloves.

(27-11-2024 18:33 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  New Zealand v England 1st Test - Christchurch Day 2 Close
Toss - England elected to bowl
New Zealand 348 (91 overs) Williamson 93 Phillips 58 no Latham 47 Ravindra 34 Bashir 4-69 Carse 4-64 Atkinson 2-61
England 319-5 (74 overs) Brook 132 no Pope 77 Duckett 46 Stokes 37 no Smith 2-86