England announce playing XI for first Test against New Zealand

LONDON: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Tuesday, announced playing XI for the first Test of the three-match series against New Zealand, scheduled to be played in Christchurch from November 28 to December 2.

The recently-unveiled lineup features Warwickshire batter Jacob Bethell, who will make his Test debut in the series opener on Thursday.

The debutant will bat at number three despite having never fulfilled the role in first-class cricket as the visitors were forced to reshuffle their batting line-up after Jordan Cox suffered a thumb injury in the nets on Sunday morning.

The 21-year-old, who impressed in England’s recent white-ball tour of West Indies with three half-centuries, however, boast a modest first-class record.

He scored 738 runs in 30 innings at a dismal average of 25.44 with just five half-centuries to his name. He will become the first specialist batter to represent England in Tests without scoring a first-class century after Mike Gatting in 1978.

Meanwhile, England’s star batter Joe Root, set to earn his 150th cap in the upcoming fixture, revealed that he was not approached for the number three slot but backed Bethell to seize the opportunity.

Despite having no experience of playing together, the pair knows each other well as their fathers played together at Sheffield Collegiate Cricket Club.

"I love the look of him as a player," said Root. "I've known Jacob and his family a long time and it's been lovely to watch him grow up as a player coming through in Barbados then at Warwickshire. What he's done in the white-ball stuff more recently has been exceptional.

"He's full of confidence, he's got great ability and a really well rounded game. He's a mature head on young shoulders and I think he has all the components to set him up nicely to be successful in this format and at this level. I'm sure he'll enjoy every aspect of the week, I'm really looking forward to watching him do his stuff.

"If you look at the way he sets up I think it suits that (batting at three), especially here with the little bit of extra bounce and carry. He plays very well square of the wicket and if he gets in on a wicket like that he could be very destructive. It's a really exciting opportunity and prospect for us to see a young player coming in hopefully doing something really special at the start of his career."

England's playing XI for first New Zealand Test:

⁠Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, ⁠Harry Brook, Ollie Pope (wk), ⁠Ben Stokes (c), Chris Woakes, ⁠Gus Atkinson, ⁠Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir.