England playing 11 for New Zealand 3rd Test announced; 1 massive change made

England have announced its Playing XI for the third Test against the hosts New Zealand to be played at Seddon Park, Hamilton. The visitors have made just one change to their Playing XI that won the previous Test match in Wellington.

Fast bowler Matthew Potts returns to the team after not being considered for the first two Tests of the series. Potts replaces the bowling allrounder Chris Woakes, who picked up 6 wickets in the first two Tests at an average of 29.16.

Woakes bowled excellently in the second innings at Wellington and helped New Zealand take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series with the key wickets of Devon Conway and Kane Williamson. He hasn't been required to do much with the bat in any of the Tests.

England announces its Playing XI for Third Test vs New Zealand

One change in Hamilton 🔄

⬅️ @ChrisWoakes
➡️ @MattyJPotts

Pushing for a clean sweep in NZ 💪#EnglandCricket | @IGcom pic.twitter.com/WyFrTgRfMp

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 13, 2024

Ben Stokes will lead the team with Ollie Pope being retained as the team's wicketkeeper. Pope and Stokes will bat in the lower order at No. 6 and No. 7 respectively. Jacob Bethell continues to retain his No. 3 spot after being impressive with every inning.

Meanwhile, opener Zak Crawley has been backed despite a poor series so far. Crawley has scored just 26 runs so far in two Tests at an average of 6.50. Harry Brook, who has been in exceptional form this series, will continue to bat at No. 5.

Brook has scored 349 runs at an average of 116.33. He has scored 2 hundreds and 1 fifty in the four innings so far. Brook has scored all these runs at a brilliant strike rate of 93.56.

Matthew Potts returns to the Playing XI

Meanwhile, Matthew Potts will be playing his first Test since the second Test against Pakistan in October this year. He picked up three wickets in the match as the visitors suffered a defeat on a turning pitch.

Matthew Potts has picked up 31 wickets in 9 Tests at an average of 29.22. He made his Test debut in 2022 and played his first three Tests against New Zealand. The 26-year-old picked up 14 wickets in those three Tests.

Since the visitors have already clinched the series and are out of contention for the World Test Championship final, England's skipper Ben Stokes decided to give Potts a game. He is also likely to take the new ball in the absence of Chris Woakes.

Ben Stokes speaks on Matthew Potts' selection

While praising his teammate, Ben Stokes lauded Matthew Potts for his ability to bowl long spells. He also considers himself a versatile bowler who can bowl in any situation of a game without tiring.

"Pottsy's got a massive engine on him. He can go all day, bowl a lot of overs, but not just that, he's a very skillful bowler, which he's got better at by being here, working with Jimmy [Anderson] on a few things here and there," Stokes stated.

"He's someone who is another versatile bowler, you can use him with the new ball, the short-ball plan that we go to because he's so fit. He can bowl you 20 overs one day, then rock up again and bowl you another 20," he added.

The third Test between New Zealand and England will be played on December 14. England are already 2-0 ahead in the series after winning the first two Tests in a convincing fashion.

England Playing XI for the third Test against New Zealand

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope (wk), Ben Stokes (C), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Shoaib Bashir