After an innings defeat to New Zealand in their opening Test of the winter, The Cricketer has all the news you need as England head to Hamilton to try and tie up the series
England's tour of New Zealand comes to an end in Hamilton's Seddon Park, with the visitors looking to bounce back from the innings defeat inflicted upon them in Mount Maunganui last week.
While the two-match clash does not have any World Test Championship points on the line, anything but an England win would secure the hosts their fifth successive Test series victory on home soil, and one made all the more sweet after the Blackcaps' super over heartbreak at Lord's in July's World Cup final.
FIRST TEST: Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui (Wednesday, November 20 to Sunday, November 24) – New Zealand won by an innings and 65 runs
SECOND TEST: Seddon Park, Hamilton (Thursday, November 28 to Monday, December 2, 10pm GMT)
It was only the spring of 2018 when England last found themselves nursing their wounds after a resounding innings defeat in the first of two Tests in New Zealand, though this time a modicum of solace can at least be found in the fact that their latest opening partnership – with Rory Burns joined this time around by his former Surrey partner Dom Sibley – ended up just two minutes shy of spending as much time in the middle on the opening morning as the whole team did at Eden Park in 2018 on the way to 58 all out.
Yet, any encouragement offered by the visitors' steady beginning was swiftly eroded a day later as England's overnight 241 for 4 became 353 all out soon after the lunch break, with only defiant rearguard action from Jos Buttler and Jack Leach preventing an outright collapse of Auckland proportions.
New Zealand, on the other hand, managed firmly the opposite after also finding themselves four down at stumps, with BJ Watling knuckling down for over 11 hours on his way to a maiden double-century as his side left England – with three unconverted fifties – toiling in the field for over 200 overs.
BJ Watling's innings of 205 was only the seventh double-century by a wicketkeeper in the history of Test cricket
Seamers are often crucial to results in Hamilton – both Mitchell Johnson and Vernon Philander have claimed 10-wicket hauls to lead their visiting sides to victory at the ground in the last decade – and England will hope for a strong display from Stuart Broad if they are to claim their first red-ball victory in the country since he toured the country back in 2008.
England's only previous Test appearance at Seddon Park came at the start of that same tour, with Ryan Sidebottom's second-innings hat-trick and career-best match figures of 10-139 proving not enough to overhaul New Zealand. While Broad only came into the side for England's subsequent victories in Wellington and Napier, one man who will have fond memories of the fixture is Ross Taylor, who scored the first of his 18 Test centuries in that match.
Should England's bowlers once again find themselves struggling, Taylor will certainly fancy his chances of adding to that tally. Claiming 20 wickets will be the key for Joe Root's side as they seek to prove their mettle – in the second Test last year, they managed just 18, with 30 overs of tail-end resilience from Ish Sodhi and Neil Wagner ultimately forcing the draw – and the overcast conditions expected on the opening morning could well make the toss a seismic moment in the match.
After the innings defeat in Mount Maunganui, England may look to use the second Test to experiment with their side ahead of their return to World Test Championship action with a four-match series starting in South Africa next month.
Stands of 52 and 48 between the new-look opening combination of Rory Burns and Dom Sibley should see them get a fair run in the side, meaning Zak Crawley's best opportunity of making his debut is likely reliant on injury. Surrey batsman Ollie Pope will be desperate to make an impression, after rash shots to balls firmly outside off-stump prematurely ended both innings of his first Test since August 2018.
Ollie Pope fell early to a wide full-toss from Neil Wagner as England looked to salvage a draw in Mount Maunganui
With James Anderson still absent due to the calf injury that limited his Ashes campaign to four overs on the opening morning, Joe Root could call upon allrounder Chris Woakes to provide some senior reinforcement to the England seam attack. Lancashire youngsters Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson are also available, having both made international debuts during England's 3-2 victory in the T20 series earlier this month.
Following a family bereavement, head coach Chris Silverwood will return to England after the second day's play. Assistant coaches Paul Collingwood and Graham Thorpe will lead the side in his absence.
Squad: Joe Root (c), Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes
Whilst their spirits will be high after last week's win in Mount Maunganui, the hosts have been dealt two huge blows just days ahead of the series decider. Both Trent Boult (side strain) and Colin de Grandhomme (torn abdominal muscle) will miss the Hamilton Test due to injury and instead focus on making the squad that heads across the Tasman for three Tests against Australia early next month.
Having opened his Plunket Shield campaign last month with a career-best innings of 170 not out, Northern Districts allrounder Daryl Mitchell has received his maiden Test squad call-up and is a likely direct replacement for de Grandhomme. Lockie Ferguson, the fast bowler who rocketed into the international spotlight with 21 wickets during the Blackcaps' run to the World Cup silver medal, could also be in line for a red-ball debut after missing out on selection for the opening Test.
Todd Astle and Tom Blundell also remain in New Zealand's squad of 14 for the final Test, however last week's performance will surely encourage Gary Stead to field an otherwise unchanged side. Blundell had been preparing for his first Test appearance since December 2017 after Henry Nicholls took a Jofra Archer bouncer to the helmet on the second day in Mount Maunganui, but the batsman was found not to be displaying symptoms of concussion and was able to contribute 41 to his side's total of 615 for 9.
Squad: Kane Williamson (c), Todd Astle, Tom Blundell, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling
After a sunny start to the Test series on the Tauranga coast, conditions could be a bit more welcoming for England's bowlers on the opening morning in Hamilton with forecasts of early showers followed by cloud coverage throughout the day.
Temperatures are expected to hover around the 25 degree mark throughout the match, with chances of further clouds and sporadic showers returning as the game draws into days four and five.
Lockie Ferguson could make his Test debut after starring in New Zealand's World Cup campaign
As always, England fans can watch the game live on Sky Sports Main Event (Sky 401, Virgin 501, TalkTalk 402, BT 402) and Sky Sports Cricket (Sky 404, Virgin 504, TalkTalk 405). Daily coverage begins from 9:30pm GMT.
Viewers without Sky Sports packages can watch the coverage live online through Now TV, which is available through computers, mobile devices, games consoles and selected smart TVs.
Test Match Special will also be live with radio commentary from 9pm each day, available through the BBC Sounds app and on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra for DAB receivers.
In New Zealand, the match will be shown live on Sky Sport 2 (Sky 052) and online via Sky Go from 11am NZDT, with highlights following throughout the day.
The Cricketer will be providing full coverage of the series via our social media channels with regular score updates, while our website will publish daily reports throughout each Test.
Bookmakers are preparing for a close contest to finish the series, as Dafabet currently offer 6/4 for both England and New Zealand to take the Test match. The draw is also available at 13/5.
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