Cricket: England’s new spin star Rehan Ahmed left out of tour to take on Black Caps

Rehan Ahmed became the youngest debutant in men's test history to take a five-for. Photo / Getty

England have left out Rehan Ahmed from their squad for the upcoming test tour of New Zealand, but the sparkling young leg-spinner is set to make his international debuts in the white-ball formats in Bangladesh in March.

Ahmed does not make the 15-man party for the two-test tour of New Zealand on the grounds that England are unlikely to need a second spinner. Instead, he will play for Gulf Giants in the inaugural ILT20 in the UAE. After that, he will head to Bangladesh where England play three ODIs and three T20s.

There are a number of other changes from the winter’s first tour for Ben Stokes’ team, a landmark 3-0 win in Pakistan, to its second. Dan Lawrence replaces Keaton Jennings, who increasingly appears a subcontinental specialist, as the spare batter, while three different seam options have been recalled: Stuart Broad, Matt Potts and Olly Stone.

Broad returns from paternity leave, Potts is recalled, while Stone is back back from a long injury lay-off that has ruled him out of test cricket since June 2021. They replace Jamie Overton, who is unselected, the injured Liam Livingstone, and Mark Wood. Wood was on all three England tours before Christmas so is being given a break, but will return in Bangladesh.

Stone is one of three players, alongside Ben Duckett and Harry Brook, who are also part of the squad for the three-match ODI series in South Africa in January. Along with spare all-rounder Will Jacks, who is playing in the new SA20 franchise competition, they will travel a little late to New Zealand.

With Jennings overlooked, England do not have specialist opening cover, which leaves them in an interesting position should Duckett or Zak Crawley pick up an injury.

Lawrence was the designated spare opener on his last test tour, to the Caribbean in March, which could mark him out as the frontrunner to play in the case of injury. England might also be tempted to experiment by thrusting Ollie Pope or Harry Brook up to open, which might provide ideas as to how they get Jonny Bairstow back into the team when he is fit again later this year. If time allows, they would likely fly a specialist opener in from the Lions tour to Sri Lanka which will take place at a similar time. The squad for that is yet to be announced, but is likely to feature Haseeb Hameed, Tom Haines, and perhaps Jennings.

Ben Foakes is the only frontline wicketkeeper once again, meaning Pope will provide cover in that department. Jacks is the understudy for Jack Leach, the only specialist spinner in the absence of Ahmed.

Joe Root will not play in the South Africa ODIs, but will play five matches for Dubai Capitals in the ILT20. Explaining this, the selection statement read: “Root will play a handful of matches in the UAE T20 League ahead of the tour to New Zealand. He will then have a short break before joining up with the test team. We believe this is the best way to enhance his game ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India in the autumn of 2023.”

The two tests are in Mount Maunganui, a day-nighter, and Wellington. Before them, Brendon McCullum will lead his squad on a team-building camp in his homeland, as well as four days of warm-up cricket in Hamilton.

England test squad for New Zealand tour:

Ben Stokes, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Will Jacks, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Olly Stone