England Playing XI For 1st Test vs New Zealand Revealed; Jacob Bethell To Debut

The fine upcoming all-rounder, Jacob Bethell, who made his first international appearance in the recent home summer for England, is set to get his first taste of the red-ball format through the first of the three Tests at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. The 21-year-old all-rounder, playing Warwickshire, has notched up 738 runs in 30 innings with the help of five half-centuries and seven wickets in the bag.  

The rookie has been slotted at the number three position in the batting order, which has pushed down their regular member at the place, Ollie Pope, at six, as the latter will keep wickets for England in this encounter after the recent broken thumb injury of their designated keeper for the game, Jordan Cox.

Joe Root extends his position at no. 4 for his 150th cap in the format. Bethell’s selection was interesting because of his lack of first-class brilliance, but ECB selectors have displayed their desire to pick players based on their judgment of quality over time.

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The Barbados-born made his T20I and ODI debuts for England against Australia at the end of the home summer and impressed the selection committee with his performance in the Caribbean. He also enjoyed the weekend on the back of his maiden gig at the Indian Premier League, when he was signed to rub shoulders with Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, or Liam Livingstone for a price of £245,000.

England pushes down Ollie Pope at number 6 as Joe Root prepares 150th Test cap

Bethell will become the team’s first batter to be part of the Test side without a first-class century since Mike Gatting in 1978. He was not part of their two-day warm-up game in Queenstown, having taken a break at home after the West Indies trip.

They could have a thing of adding an extra pure all-rounder in the middle order, having retained the same line-up, but Ben Stokes perhaps isn’t keen to change the batting position of England’s leading run-getter in the five-day format.

“I love the look of him as a player. 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 and then at Warwickshire. What he’s done in the white-ball stuff more recently has been exceptional.” Root, who has never played with Bethell, looked back at their first meetings when their fathers used to play together at Sheffield Collegiate Cricket Club.

“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 fascinating opportunity and prospect for us to see a young player coming in hopefully doing something really special at the start of his career.” The former England captain expressed.

The expectation was to see the wicket-keeper batter of Durham, Ollie Robinson, in the side, but he is currently getting his passport renewed. He could come into the scene from the second game of the series. The Hagley Oval has always been a seam-friendly conditioning ground with so many greenish tracks available.

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This has led England to have their lone-spinner in the form of Shoaib Bashir, with three genuine pacers in the form of Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, and Chris Woakes in the side, along with the luxury of Stokes as the all-rounder.

England Playing XI For 1st Test vs New Zealand

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope (wicket-keeper), Ben Stokes (captain), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir