New Zealand vs England - Jacob Bethell is unchanged at No. 3 in England's squad for the second Test

jacob bethel He will continue at No. 3 after England announced an unchanged XI for the second Test against New Zealand at Basin Reserve.

victory in christchurch by eight wickets The first half-century was completed by Bethel. The 21-year-old debutant scored an unbeaten 50 off 37 balls as England achieved the target of 104 runs in 12.4 overs in the fourth innings.

Bethell’s first innings at Hagley Oval – 10 for 34 – was the first time a Warwickshire batsman had gone above number 4, from a sample size of only 20 first-class matches. England management discussed changes specifically regarding the Durham wicketkeeper ollie robinson After being included in the team to replace the injured Jordan Cox, he decided to remain with the same team.

That means Ollie Pope Will continue with the gloves at number 6. The England vice-captain was moved from his usual position at first-drop to concentrate on duty. This will be his fifth Test as the designated wicketkeeper, all of which have come abroad.

Pope He reiterated that he wants to remain at number 3 After scoring a crucial 77 in the first innings – from No. 6 – he is expected to return to the position he has consistently held during Ben Stokes’ tenure when Jamie Smith returns to the XI. Pope was in good form during the first match, taking a few catches and looking largely comfortable in his role.

“They always say when you don’t pay attention to a keeper he’s done a good job and Ollie has certainly done that,” he said. Chris Woakes In Wellington on Wednesday. “He was fantastic last week, stepping into a role he hasn’t done much of.

“Obviously he can keep and he’s done that for England before, but to step up in such a short space of time and do the job he did was fantastic. For him to score runs shows his character, without any For the Nuisance team to put their hand up and come in at number six, it was huge for us to get such a good score and contribute to a big partnership.”

Stokes has retained his position and is certain to remain at number seven as an all-rounder. Back pain persisted in first testWhich prompted him to abort the game midway through an over on the fourth and final morning.

Vox also supported jack crawley Looking to turn around his form against New Zealand, he took the hit after scores of zero and 1 in the first Test. The opening batsman now has a disappointing average of 9.88 against the Black Caps in 17 innings, in what has emerged as a bogey team for the Kent batsman.

Vox said, “Sometimes I think that these statistics that come out are just a coincidence.” “I don’t think it has anything to do with it. New Zealand have some very good opening bowlers. They face the new balls when they are freshest and best, so perhaps they have some good balls.”

“We have seen the quality that Jack has. Opening the batting is such a tough job that you will have moments when you get low scores. We have seen what Jack can do. When he comes in, he is one of those It happens that in international cricket the worst batsmen are bowling, I’m sure that will change.”

England: 1⁠Zak Crawley, 2⁠Ben Duckett, 3⁠Jacob Bethel, 4⁠Joe Root, 5⁠Harry Brook, 6⁠Ollie Pope (wk), 7⁠Ben Stokes (c), 8⁠Chris Woakes, 9⁠Gus Atkinson , 10⁠Brydon Carsey, 11⁠Shoaib Bashir

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