England have bolstered their seam attack with recalls for Stuart Broad, Matthew Potts and Olly Stone for February’s two-match Test series in New Zealand. As revealed in the Guardian on Wednesday, Mark Wood is rested, as is Rehan Ahmed after a successful debut in Pakistan.
Broad returns to the squad after missing the Pakistan series – during which England won a Test without he and Jimmy Anderson for the first time since 2007 – for parental leave, while Potts will be looking to build on a successful debut summer in the Test arena, during which he took 20 wickets in five matches.
Stone is one of a battalion of seamers who have struggled with injury, with a series of stress fractures and a broken finger limiting his playing time since the last of his three Test caps in June 2021. His presence in the squad, though, offers England the option of express pace in the absence of Wood.
Essex batsman Dan Lawrence also returns to the squad having not featured for the Test side since the tour of the West Indies in March. Of the squad members who toured Pakistan, Keaton Jennings and Jamie Overton, neither of whom made an appearance in the 3-0 series win, drop out.
Joe Root has opted to play in the inaugural UAE T20 league before joining up with the squad in New Zealand, while Jonny Bairstow remains out with injury.
Squad
Ben Stokes (Durham, capt), James Anderson (Lancashire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Will Jacks (Surrey), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Matthew Potts (Durham), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Olly Stone (Nottinghamshire)
Schedule
Two-day warm-up (red-ball): NZ XI v England, 8-9 February, Hamilton (11am start)
Two-day warm-up (pink-ball): NZ XI v England, 10-11 February, Hamilton (2pm start)
First Test (pink ball): New Zealand v England, 16-20 February, Mount Maunganui (2pm start)
Second Test: New Zealand v England, 24-28 February, Wellington (11am start)
