England named their playing XI for the first Test against New Zealand which is scheduled to start on November 28 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. 21-year-old all-rounder Jacob Bethell who was roped in by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for Rs 2.60 crore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction will make his Test debut.
Ollie Pope will keep wickets in the absence of an injured Jordan Cox. On November 24, Cox suffered a fracture in his right thumb and taken to the local hospital for a scan. Cox has been ruled out of the three-Test series. Cox was set to make his Test debut as Jamie Smith's replacement. Smith opted out of the tour to stay with his wife for the birth of their first child.
England announced a change in the batting order as well. Since Pope will keep wickets, he will bat at no.6. Debutant Bethell will walk out to bat at no.3.
England's playing XI for first Test against New Zealand
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope (wk), Ben Stokes (c), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir
Root excited to see young Bethell
England's veteran batter Joe Root has backed Bethell to do well in the top order considering his ability to negotiate with extra bounce.
"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."
Bethell's first-class record
Bethell has been picked in the side purely on potential rather than his domestic numbers. In first-class cricket, he has scored 738 runs from 30 innings at an average of 25.44 including five centuries. He does not follow the Bazball approach either in red-ball cricket scoring at a strike rate of 48.23. The left-arm spinner has seven wickets as well but at an average of 96.14.
