New Zealand vs England: Ollie Pope to remain stand-in wicketkeeper in unchanged side for second Test

Ollie Pope will remain England's stand-in wicketkeeper for the second Test against New Zealand, with Jacob Bethell retained at No 3 in an unchanged side.

The tourists were forced to make late adjustments after Jordan Cox broke his thumb ahead of the series opener in Christchurch, drafting Bethell in for a debut after Pope agreed to deputise behind the stumps.

Durham's Ollie Robinson was called up as wicketkeeping cover and was in contention to make his first international appearance at Wellington's Basin Reserve this week.

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But England have opted not to change a winning formula having eased to an eight-wicket victory on the fourth afternoon at Hagley Oval.

Pope gave a solid account of himself with the gloves and hit 77 after shifting down to six in the batting order, while Bethell hit an ebullient 50 not out to finish the game in stylish fashion.

With everything working as planned, England are happy to go in with the same XI.

Chris Woakes, who will once again lead the attack as Matthew Potts and Olly Stone wait in the wings, praised Pope's readiness to help rebalance the side.

"He was brilliant last week, stepping into a role he hasn't done a lot of," Woakes said.

"They always say, when you don't notice a keeper, he's done a good job, and Ollie certainly did that. To step up at short notice like that and do the job he did was fantastic.

"For him to score runs just shows his character, putting his hand up for the team without any fuss and cracking on. To move to No 6, get such a good score for us and contribute to a big partnership was massive."

The second Test begins at 10pm UK time on Thursday.

Bethell receives improved central contract

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Newcomer Bethell received a double dose of good news after landing a two-year central contract.

Less than six weeks after announcing a new raft of player deals, the ECB has upgraded Bethell from a low-key developmental contract to a more lucrative retainer that runs until October 2026. Breakout pace prospect Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts and Jofra Archer, who hopes to make his long-awaited Test comeback next year, have also had their terms upgraded from one year to two.

Outlining his decision to keep faith with the XI that produced a comprehensive eight-wicket success at Hagley Oval, captain Ben Stokes said: "There was a conversation (about Robinson coming in) but we've looked back at that game and the whole team set-up and make up looked really good.

"We like the whole make up of the team and I think everyone who played last week put in a performance at some point that helped us win. We had all bases covered from a bowling point of view and our batting line-up was really deep with Brydon coming in at 10.

"Popey did an amazing job behind the stumps last week that was unnoticed and I thought he played an important role down at number six. We were really happy with that performance so let's go and build on it."

Archer signs up

The appearance of Archer's name on the list of new contract extensions is notable, given his previous agreement would have expired before England's Ashes tour next winter.

The seamer, who has long been viewed as a potential difference maker Down Under only for persistent injury problems to blight his red-ball career, is now fully signed up.

And Stokes has revealed the 29-year-old, who has been carefully managed back into the limited-overs setup after long-running back and elbow problems, is starting to think about his long-form comeback.

England play a marquee series against India next summer as well as a one-off against Zimbabwe in May. Archer will not be able to play in the latter after being picked up by Rajasthan Royals in the recent IPL auction, but the idea had seemingly crossed his mind.

"Jof is a man of few words, even over WhatsApp. I had one a couple of months ago saying 'Zimbabwe?'. That shows he is very interested in playing Test cricket for England," said Stokes.

"The excitement is understandable around Jofra. The best thing is he is back on the field playing. I am sure he thought he might not have the chance to put on an England shirt again - the injuries and surgeries he has gone through could have ended other people's career - so there is no rushing back.

"He is being handled very well by the ECB and that will certainly continue. There is no doubt he is going so well at the moment it is a case of having to build the body up to handle extra pressure of Test match cricket."

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