England name playing XI for first Test against New Zealand; Dominic Sibley to debut
England have named a strong playing XI for the first Test against New Zealand starting November 21st at Mount Maunganui.
Warwickshire opener Dominic Sibley, who has been rewarded for his stellar form in the County Championships with a call-up to the national side, will make his Test debut.
Sibley amassed a whopping 1324 runs over the course of England's first-class season and also struck a century in their warm-up game against New Zealand XI.
The 24-year-old will partner Rory Burns at the top of the order for the Three Lions.
Ollie Pope has also been named in the side and will make his first Test appearance in over a year. Pope looked in good nick against New Zealand A, scoring a fluent 88 down the order.
Joe Denly has also been passed fit and will feature in the opening game of the series. Denly had injured his ankle ahead of the T20I series between these two teams, but proved his fitness during the warm-up game against New Zealand A.
Sam Curran has pipped Chris Woakes to the third seamer's slot and will hope to strike up a formidable partnership with Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer.
The first Test will commence on November 21 at Mount Maunganui following which the action will shift to Hamilton for the second game.
England XI: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Joe Denly, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad.