The National Times - New Zealand include Boult as they bat against England

New Zealand include Boult as they bat against England


New Zealand include Boult as they bat against England
New Zealand include Boult as they bat against England / Photo: © AFP

New Zealand included the recently-arrived Trent Boult in their side for the first Test at Lord's on Thursday as captain Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bat against England.

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Left-arm paceman Boult only joined the squad after playing in last weekend's Indian Premier League final but was selected by the reigning World Test champions as a member of a pace attack also including Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson.

This was England's first match under their new Test leadership duo of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, himself a former New Zealand skipper.

All-rounder Stokes took over after Joe Root stood down at the end of a five-year reign that culminated in series losses away to Australia and the West Indies, with a 4-0 Ashes reverse leading to Chris Silverwood being sacked as England coach.

England have won just one of their last 17 Tests, a woeful run that is reflected in the fact they are currently bottom of the World Test Championship table.

They named their side for this first of a three-match series on Wednesday, with veteran quicks James Anderson and Stuart Broad -- England's two most successful all-time Test bowlers with 1,177 wickets between them -- recalled.

The pair were controversially left out of the West Indies tour squad earlier this year.

England also gave a Test debut to in-form fast bowler Matthew Potts, a county colleague of Stokes at Durham, amid an injury crisis that had ruled out several seamers including Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Ollie Robinson.

Teams

England: Zak Crawley, Alex Lees, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Ben Foakes (wkt), Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

New Zealand: Tom Latham, Will Young, Kane Williamson (capt), Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wkt), Colin de Grandhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, Trent Boult

Umpires: Rod Tucker (AUS), Michael Gough (ENG)

TV umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS)

Match referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)

S.Cooper--TNT