Rob Key has backed England’s new red-ball regime to “unlock” the latent talent in their underperforming Test players after naming a first squad of the Brendon McCullum era complete with a combination of fresh faces and the familiar.
With much attention focused either on the recalled Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad or on the uncapped Matthew Potts and Harry Brook, perhaps the most intriguing innovation as England go into next month’s three-match series against New Zealand will be Ollie Pope coming in at three, having never in a first-class career that now runs to 103 innings batted higher than No 4.
