New Zealand v England: Ollie Pope picked again as wicketkeeper in unchanged team

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New Zealand v England: Ollie Pope picked again as wicketkeeper in unchanged team

“They always say when you don’t notice a keeper he’s done a good job and Ollie certainly did that,” said Woakes. “He was brilliant last week, stepping into a role he hasn’t done a lot of.

“For him to score runs just shows his character, putting his hand up for the team without any fuss and cracking on.”

In the New Zealand capital, England return to the Basin Reserve, scene of their all-time classic one-run defeat by the ****** Caps in February 2023. Stokes’ side became only the fourth in Test history to lose after enforcing the follow-on.

On Wednesday, two days out from the beginning of the second Test, the Wellington pitch looked green, but is expected to play true.

“It is green, but I’m not sure if it’s as green as what last week was,” Woakes told BBC Sport. “There are a couple of brown bits, so has the potential to dry out further into the week.”

Woakes also backed England opener Zak Crawley, whose scores of nought and one in the first Test, mean his average against New Zealand has dropped below 10 across 17 innings.

“A lot of the time these stats that come out are pure coincidence,” said Woakes. “New Zealand have some very good opening bowlers. He faces the new ball when they are their freshest and best, so he’s probably got some good ****** in there.

“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.”

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