After taking both the limited over series comfortably, England now face the toughest challenge of the tour, the test match series against New Zealand. First Test is scheduled to be played in Dunedin tomorrow.
New Zealand are going with almost full strength in the series, as the experienced Ross Taylor, Tim Southee and the skipper Brendon McCullum are part of the squad for the first test against England.
Martin Guptill is still recovering from injury and his absence will be a big setback for the Kiwis, as they look to salvage some pride by winning the test series.
To further deepen the wounds, Doug Bracewell has injured his foot, away from duty. This sort of conduct is not acceptable from a professional, and New Zealand cricket board is set to investigate the issue.
All in all, New Zealand are expected to play the best possible combination from the available pool of players, for tomorrow’s encounter.
On the other side, the English team has excelled in the longest format since an year, and they have a settled playing XI for tomorrow’s test. However, the absence of Tim Bresnan will give yet another chance to Steven Finn.
Also, the English team will be bolstered by the addition of Kevin Pietersen in the squad. He will definitely make it straight into the playing XI tomorrow.
Other notable new inclusions into the squad are Monty Panesar, Graham Onions and Matt Prior.
However, the likely playing XI for England tomorrow will be: Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Joe Root, Johnny Bairstow, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Steven Finn.
The pitch in Dunedin will offer some assistance to the fast bowlers, in the morning of 1st day. After that it is likely to slow down and take some spin as the game goes on.