Joe Root targets return to top form as new era for English Test cricket begins

Down the order: Root will return to his favoured position at four
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Malik Ouzia @MalikOuzia_20 November 2019

Dominic Sibley will make his international debut as a new era for English Test cricket gets under way in New Zealand on Thursday.

England face the Black Caps at Mount Maunganui in the opening game of a two-Test series, their first competitive red-ball action since Chris Silverwood replaced Trevor Bayliss as head coach in October.

Warwickshire star Sibley, who scored a century in a warm-up match against a New Zealand XI earlier this month, will open the batting alongside Rory Burns, with Joe Denly fit to bat at three after an ankle injury that ruled him out of most of the T20 part of the tour.

That means captain Joe Root will return to his favoured position at four, having moved up the order during the Ashes this summer, and the 28-year-old is determined to make the most of the opportunity.

“I know I've not performed as I'd have liked in previous series - probably over the last year - but they are the challenges you face as an international player,” he said.

"It could have been exactly the same if I wasn't captain. I've gone away and worked on a few things and think my game is in good order coming into this series.

"I feel like a strong enough character, I still have the desire and desperation, to get back to where I was a couple of years ago and hopefully beyond that."

For all the talk of new beginnings, there are only two changes in personnel to the XI that started the fifth Ashes Test against Australia at The Oval in September, though perhaps more tellingly there are five from the team which started that series.

Ollie Pope, who averaged 80.14 for Surrey in the County Championship this summer, returns to the side after a brief two-match introduction to Test cricket against India 18 months ago, and will bat at six, with Ben Stokes at five and Jos Buttler wearing the gloves at seven.

Sam Curran has edged out Chris Woakes for the third seamer spot, joining new-ball pair Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad, with Jack Leach as the sole front-line spinner.

Sibley (left) is set for his international debut
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Leach became a cult hero for his resolute batting displays as much as his bowling during the Ashes, after he replaced the dropped Moeen Ali. But with a Test series in South Africa to come this winter, where spin is likely to be more of a factor, Root is open to the idea of the latter returning to the fold.

"[Moeen] made a decision he wanted a bit of a break from Test cricket and sometimes you do need that,” Root said.

"When he's on form and playing well he offers so much and adds a different dimension to our playing group.

"He's got to be comfortable and ready to come back to Test cricket but we're very open to that, for sure."

New Zealand, meanwhile, have decided against handing fast bowler Lockie Ferguson a Test debut, with Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner given the nod.

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