“Uncapped wicketkeeper-batter James Rew has been called into the England Men’s XI for the second Rothesay Test against New Zealand in place of Jamie Smith,” the ECB said in a statement on Tuesday evening. “Smith has been withdrawn from the Test match following the birth of his second child earlier today, enabling him to remain with his partner and family.”
Rew, 22, was first named in an England Test squad last year and has been a consistent run-scorer in the County Championship in recent years. Since the start of the 2023 season, he has scored 11 Championship hundreds and is the third-highest run-scorer in Division One behind Dom Sibley and Joe Clarke.
“It’s a very exciting team,” Root said on Tuesday, putting a positive spin on its inexperience. “There’s a lot of youth, a lot of guys at the start of their journey, and whenever someone comes into Test cricket, that brings a lot of energy to the squad, so it’s a nice position to be in: 1-0 up in the series, and a great opportunity ahead this week to hopefully go and win a series.”
New Zealand are expected to make a single change to their side, with Henry Nicholls set to return at No. 3 after Kane Williamson’s abrupt, mid-series retirement and Matt Henry likely to play after getting through training unscathed on Tuesday.
England XI vs New Zealand: 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Emilio Gay, 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Harry Brook, 6 James Rew (wk), 7 Jordan Cox, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Matthew Fisher, 10 Josh Tongue, 11 Sonny Baker.
