Olly Stone returns as England name squad for New Zealand Test series

Dan Lawrence, Stuart Broad and Matthew Potts have also been included in the 15-strong squad. Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed are absent

Olly Stone will be looking to add to his three Test caps after being named in England's squad to face New Zealand in February 2023.

The Nottinghamshire quick, who has been plagued by stress fractures across his career, made his debut against Ireland in 2019 but hasn't played a first-class match since featuring against New Zealand at Edgbaston in June 2021.

In his Test career to date, he has picked up 10 wickets at 19.40.

England are scheduled to play two Test against New Zealand, beginning in Mount Maunganui on February 16 and later moving to Wellington (February 24-28). The series will be preceded by two warm-up matches against a New Zealand XI in Hamilton.

^{Dan Lawrence and Matthew Potts have also been included in the 15-strong squad [Gareth Copley/Shaun Botterill/Getty Images]}

Essex batter Dan Lawrence and seamers Stuart Broad and Matthew Potts have also returned to the Test squad while Ben Duckett, Harry Brook and Will Jacks are among those to retain their places following the Pakistan series.

Bowler Mark Wood, however, is taking a break from all international and franchise cricket in January in order to recover from his T20 and Test commitments at the backend of 2022. He is expected to return for England's white-ball tour of Bangladesh in March.

Allrounder Rehan Ahmed, who became the youngest debutant to take a five-for in men's Test cricket when he ripped through Pakistan in Karachi, is also unavailable due to workload management. He will instead head to the UAE for the ILT20 in January before joining up with England in Bangladesh if selected.

Joe Root will also spend time in the UAE after being rested for England's upcoming ODI series against South Africa but will return to the national side for the New Zealand series. He will play a handful of matches in the ILT20 before enjoying a short break with a view to keeping him fresh for the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

England Test squad: Ben Stokes, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Will Jacks, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Olly Stone

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