Southee's long farewell the subplot as New Zealand seek series consolation
Written by I Dig Sports
Big picture: Threat of 3-0 overshadows Southee fanfare
Form guide
New Zealand LLWWW (last five Tests, most recent first)
England WWLLW
In the spotlight: Tim Southee and Zak Crawley
Team news: Young in for Conway
Young will slot in at opener - having most recently batted at No. 3 - while New Zealand could also opt to bring in Mitchell Santner as a frontline spin option in place of Nathan Smith.
New Zealand: 1 Tom Latham (capt), 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Glenn Phillips, 8 Mitchell Santner/Nathan Smith, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Will O'Rourke
England's players filtered into Hamilton under their own steam on Wednesday and were not due to train until Friday. Woakes has been spared a third Test back to back, with Matt Potts coming in for his second appearance of the winter.
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ollie Pope (wk), 7 Ben Stokes (capt), 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Matt Potts, 11 Shoaib Bashir
Pitch and conditions: Green from the outset
There has been plenty of rain in the build-up - New Zealand's training was cut short after 30 minutes on Thursday - and the pitch has largely been under covers. But a glorious Friday meant the pitch was opened up to bright blue skies, and with a balmy weekend forecast, the pitch is likely to get baked. Seddon Park has been something of a stronghold for New Zealand, who have won seven of their last nine Tests there. Most recently, against South Africa in February, the ground saw three scores of under 250 before flattening out for the hosts to comfortably chase 267 three down in the fourth innings. The weather could play a part through the Test, with showers forecast on day three.
Stats and trivia
- New Zealand haven't lost a Test at Seddon Park since South Africa beat them by nine wickets in 2012.
- Kane Williamson averages 94.26 at the ground, with six hundreds - including a career-best 251 against West Indies in 2020.
- England have played two Tests in Hamilton: a high-scoring draw in 2019 and defeat by 189 runs in 2008, which precipitated the dropping of Steven Harmison and Matthew Hoggard for James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
- Having lost 2-0 to Australia earlier in the year, New Zealand could equal their worst losing sequence of five in a row at home, set in 1955-56.
- Joe Root needs 114 runs to become the fifth man to 13,000 in Tests. Gus Atkinson is two wickets shy of 50.
Quotes
"Any Test match you play for New Zealand, it's another opportunity to perform your skills as best you can. We certainly don't need any motivation for what we're trying to do. The crowds that we've had, we know we haven't played to our potential the last couple of games, but hopefully we can put a good show on for the fans. We really appreciate their support."
Tom Latham
"Seventeen [Tests] in a year is a lot when you add the other cricket, long tough slog but a really good year. Played some good cricket, found some extraordinarily talented players who have shown they're capable of delivering big performances on the biggest stage, which is playing for your country. So overall, really happy."
Ben Stokes
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick
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