These past 10 days must have been curious for New Zealand\u2019s cricketers, as their restful mid-series downtime was occasionally interrupted by news of England\u2019s latest convulsions. \u201cI guess it probably wasn\u2019t necessarily what we were expecting,\u201d deadpanned their captain, Tom Latham.<\/p>\n
At least most of his own side got a chance to relax. \u201cA lot of guys have had some good family time, they\u2019ve had a bit of time off to refresh the bodies, refresh the minds and get ready for what we\u2019ve got coming up,\u201d Latham said. \u201cWe\u2019re not necessarily used to a big break like that, but guys did their own thing, some guys got away. So we\u2019re ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
They have had to deal with the unexpected international retirement<\/a> of one of their greatest ever players in Kane Williamson, while saying that \u201csome guys got away\u201d rather underplays the fact that Devon Conway has flown home, witnessed the birth of his second child and flown back again. But if the tourists have not been exactly drama-free themselves, in this respect at least England have been on another level<\/a>. The home side\u2019s challenge at the Oval is to demonstrate that as a group they can be as good at their day jobs as they are at unnecessary crisis-creation.<\/p>\n These are extraordinary times, to which England have responded by picking an extraordinary team; an already eyebrow-raising selection that, after Jamie Smith\u2019s withdrawal late on Tuesday after the birth of a daughter, seemed to be approaching, like Douglas Adams\u2019 Heart of Gold when it nears top speed, infinite improbability. James Rew parachuted neatly into Smith\u2019s spot, a third debutant to join two players making just their second Test appearances, while for a variety of reasons only one of the five bowlers picked for the first Test will take part in the second.<\/p>\n James Rew will be England\u2019s third debutant at the Oval after Jamie Smith\u2019s partner gave birth. Photograph: Philip Brown\/Getty Images<\/p>\n With no specialist spinner, no recognised all-rounder and two unfamiliar seamers, England\u2019s bowling attack is particularly curious. Alongside Josh Tongue, the only survivor from Lord\u2019s, Jofra Archer returns, Matt Fisher is back in the side four years after he made his only previous appearance in the dying days of Joe Root\u2019s long first stint as captain, and Sonny Baker makes his debut.<\/p>\n Quick GuideEngland v New Zealand second men’s Test – teamsShow<\/p>\n England v New Zealand second men’s Test – teams<\/p>\n England XI (confirmed): Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root (capt), Harry Brook, James Rew (wk)*,\u00a0Jordan Cox, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Matthew Fisher, Sonny Baker.<\/p>\n *Rew replaced Jamie Smith, whose partner has given birth to their second child.<\/p>\n New Zealand XI (probable):\u00a0Tom Latham (capt), Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Will O\u2019Rourke, Matt Henry.<\/p>\n Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing it shows is the depth we have got in that department now,\u201d said Root, back in his blazer<\/a> at least temporarily, in the absence of Ben Stokes. \u201cIt\u2019s something that we didn\u2019t necessarily have for a number of years, and I think the hard work that\u2019s happened behind the scenes to develop that has been really impressive.\u201d This feels a bit premature: for now all they actually show is desperation. All the rest is dependent on how the next few days pan out.<\/p>\n They may not be straightforward. On one hand, over the last five years of Test cricket the Oval has not been particularly batter-friendly, coming in as the fifth-highest-scoring ground in England. There have been just two draws here in the last 20 years and 20 Tests. On the other, three of the four first-class games at the ground this summer have been draws, and the eight completed innings, in order of magnitude, ended on 277, 333, 409, 421, 472, 520, 622 and 691. Sixteen centuries have been scored, and one double. For seamers so far this year the Oval has been the source of much sweat and little celebration. It is not clear what caused Ollie Robinson\u2019s knee to develop the \u201csoreness\u201d that ruled him out of this game after a heroic return at Lord\u2019s<\/a>, but perhaps it discovered the ability to read statistics. After all, it has been so easy for batters to score centuries here this season that even Robinson got one.<\/p>\n In the end both teams have ended up similarly balanced, with four seamers and a couple of batters who can bowl spin if required. But New Zealand will have to adapt to some unfamiliar opponents, and also to an unfamiliar venue. Their defeat at Lord\u2019s means they have still won there only once in their history, and not at all in seven games this century. They have also not won at the Oval in that time, though that lack of success is largely due to the fact that, by a strange quirk of scheduling, they have not played here since 1999. The last time they visited Kennington<\/a> the oldest member of this squad, Tom Blundell, was eight. So Latham will have been relieved to conclude that the surface, which will also be the focus of extra attention given the goings-on at Lord\u2019s, \u201cis probably one that\u2019s maybe similar to what we have back home\u201d.<\/p>\n