England have arrived in Hamilton ahead of their final Test of 2024. With the three-match series already secured after back-to-back wins for the tourists, PA looks at some of the key talking points.
Root’s record hunt
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It has been another prolific year for Joe Root, who continues to be England’s most reliable performer. His second-innings century at Wellington was the 36th of his career and his sixth in the calendar year. That is a joint record among Englishmen, with Root previously posting half-a-dozen hundreds in 2021 to place alongside Jonny Bairstow, Michael Vaughan and Denis Compton. He now has two more innings to go it alone and set a new benchmark of seven.
Opener needs to finish well
It has been a real team effort for England so far, with contributions across the board in the first two Tests. The only player yet to make a real impact is Zak Crawley, whose has scraped together just 26 runs from four increasingly frenetic attempts. He enjoys the full support of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, who are willing to accept lean streaks in what they see as an extremely difficult role as top-order aggressor, but he needs a score for his own peace of mind. England do not play another Test until May, which would be nearly two years since his last century. Crawley would love to reset the clock.
Selection: stick or twist?
After going unchanged for the first two games, England must now decide whether to hold fast to a winning formula or take the opportunity to have a look at other options. The most realistic switch would be in the seam attack, with Matthew Potts and Olly Stone eager to step up. At 35, Chris Woakes is likelier to make way than Gus Atkinson or Brydon Carse but he will be eager to hold down his spot as long as possible. England need to decide whether retaining their current balance or learning more about the overseas abilities of Potts or Stone is a more valuable move.
A game too far for Black Caps great?
Only Sir Richard Hadlee has taken more Test wickets for New Zealand than Tim Southee, who announced at the start of the series that it would be his last. Despite plenty of encouragement from the home support it has been a gruelling lap of honour so far, with England mercilessly attacking the 106-cap veteran. He has four wickets at 61.50 in the series and has seen his career bowling average creep above 30 at the last moment. Neither captain nor coach have given an indication that he will be ditched from his own farewell appearance, so the onus will be on Southee to script a fitting farewell.
A final hurdle for Bethell
At 21, Jacob Bethell has given England every reason to feel very smug indeed about their decision to fast-track him into a number three slot that conventional cricketing logic suggested he was too raw to fill. His unbeaten 50 in Christchurch and mature 96 at Basin Reserve were exciting enough to make him feel like more than just a placeholder, but the harshest possible critic would point out that both knocks came in relatively low-pressure situations while his first-innings efforts have yielded scores of just 10 and 16. If he is to give the selectors a real headache heading into next summer, a big performance setting up the game rather than helping apply the finishing touches would be the way to do it. He certainly looks capable.
