Ollie Pope steps up as England's wicketkeeper.© (@ESPNcricinfo )
Ollie Pope will again keep wicket for England after the tourists named an unchanged team for the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington. Pope took over wicketkeeping duties in place of the injured Jordan Cox during England’s dominant eight-wicket win in the first Test in Christchurch. Although uncapped Ollie Robinson has joined the squad as wicketkeeping cover, England have opted to retain Pope behind the stumps and batting at number six, with 21-year-old Jacob Bethell continuing at number three.
Captain Ben Stokes, who had been struggling with a back injury on the final day of the victory in Christchurch, is fit to play a whole part as an all-rounder in the second Test. England can secure their first away series win in two years when the match begins on Friday (22:00 GMT Thursday).
The decision to keep Pope in the wicketkeeper role mirrors his previous stint as a deputy on the 2022 tour of Pakistan, when he replaced the ill Ben Foakes in the first Test, retained the gloves for the second, and handed them back to Foakes for the third. England have opted for a similar approach this time, giving Warwickshire’s left-hander Bethell another opportunity after his impressive Test debut, which saw him score an unbeaten 50 in the second innings in Christchurch.
Pope was flawless behind the stumps in the first Test and scored 77 runs with the bat, marking his first half-century since September. England’s Chris Woakes praised Pope’s contributions: “They always say when you don’t notice a keeper, he’s done a good job, and Ollie certainly did that. He was brilliant last week, stepping into a role he hasn’t done much of. For him to score runs shows his character, putting his hand up for the team without fuss and cracking on.”
In Wellington, England, they returned to the Basin Reserve, where they experienced a heart-breaking one-run defeat to New Zealand in February 2023. On that occasion, Stokes’ side became only the fourth team in Test history to lose after enforcing the follow-on. With just two days remaining before the second Test begins, the pitch appeared green, although it is expected to play correctly. Woakes commented, “It is green, but I’m unsure if it’s as green as last week. There are a couple of brown bits, so it has the potential to dry out further into the week.”
Woakes also expressed his support for opener Zak Crawley, who had a disappointing first Test with scores of zero and one, leaving his average against New Zealand below ten from 17 innings. “Many of the time, these stats are just pure coincidence,” said Woakes. “New Zealand have some outstanding opening bowlers. He faces the new ball when they are their freshest and best, so he’s probably got some good balls. We’ve seen the quality Zak has. Opening the batting is such a difficult job. You will have occasions where you get low scores. When he gets in, he’s one of the worst batters to be bowling at in international cricket. I’m sure that record will change.”
