Jacob Bethell to make England Test debut at No 3 in series opener against New Zealand in Christchurch

Jacob Bethell will make his England Test debut in the opening Test of the three-match series against New Zealand in Christchurch.

England have named their team for the series opener on Thursday November 28, with the 21-year-old Warwickshire batter set to come in at No 3.

Bethell, a surprise selection for the series initially, has not yet scored a first-class hundred and has a career average of 25.44. But the youngster has impressed as part of the white-ball set-up since making his debut at the back-end of the summer, with two fifties in his first seven T20 internationals and one half-century in eight ODIs.

"It is a bit of a gamble, of course it is," VidSport Live' Nasser Hussain said of the selection. "I think the last time someone was selected in an England shirt as a front-line batter in Test match cricket, without a first-class hundred, was Mike Gatting in 1978.

"But, at 21 years of age, Bethell is a supreme talent, an outstanding batter. We've seen that in white-ball cricket recently in the Caribbean.

"It's a very [Brendon] McCullum, [Ben] Stokes, [Rob] Key selection. They go on the high ceiling, 'what can this lad get to?' They view this selection as an investment into the future, and see this lad as someone well worth investing in."

Bethell's remarkable rise in 2024 also saw him signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for £246,000 as part of the Indian Premier League auction on Monday, joining England team-mates Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone at the franchise for his maiden IPL campaign.

"I love the look of him as a player. I've known Jacob and his family for a long time," said Joe Root ahead of the first Test.

"It's been lovely to watch him grow up as a player, coming through, firstly in Barbados, then through Warwickshire. More recently, what he's done in the white-ball stuff has been exceptional. He's full of confidence, he's got great ability and he's got a really well-rounded game, a mature head on young shoulders.

"I think he's got all the components that set him up nicely to be successful in this format and at this level. I'm sure he will enjoy every aspect of the week.

"Really pleased for him and really looking forward to watching him go and do his stuff at this level."

Ollie Pope will keep wicket for England in the first Test in the absence of Jordan Cox, who fractured his right thumb during practice last weekend in Queenstown. Pope also drops down to No 6 in the order.

Cox had been set to deputise for Jamie Smith behind the stumps, who misses the series while preparing for the birth of his first child.

England's bowling attack selected for the first Test consists of Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse as the three seamers - with captain Ben Stokes a fourth option - and Shoaib Bashir getting the nod over Jack Leach as the front-line spinner.

Leach, as well as leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed and pace options Olly Stone and Matthew Potts sit out the first Test.

Former England batter Graham Thorpe, who passed away earlier this year, has been honoured alongside ex-New Zealand captain, the late Martin Crowe, as part of a new trophy that New Zealand and England will compete for in the series.

The Crowe-Thorpe Trophy, a collaboration between New Zealand Cricket, the ECB and the families of each player, will be unveiled on the morning of the first Test.

A section from the bat Thorpe used to score his first two Test centuries against New Zealand - in consecutive Tests in 1997 - has been used as part of the trophy, his handwriting detailing the two scores lifted off the face.

The bat donated by the Crowe family was the GM that Martin used for his hundred against England at Lord's in 1994.

Both were hugely successful Test batsmen in their time: Crowe averaged 45.36 and posted 17 centuries, with a highest score of 299, while Thorpe averaged 44.66, with 16 centuries and a highest score of 200 not out - against New Zealand in 2002.

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