Selection surprise as England hand youngster debut for first New Zealand Test

England have sprung a major surprise by handing a debut to uncapped youngster Jacob Bethell for the first Test against New Zealand in Christchurch.

Bethell wins a place in the XI on the back of some strong recent form during white-ball series against Australia and West Indies and will bat at No.3 on debut after England named their XI for the opening ICC World Test Championship contest at Hagley Oval.

World Test Championship Standings

While Bethell is relatively inexperienced against the red ball and has never made a first-class century, the 21-year-old did finish as England's second leading run-scorer during the 2022 edition of the ICC Men's Under 19 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies with 205 runs at an average of 34.16.

Watch: Bethell in fine form against South Africa at Under 19 World Cup

With regular keeper Jamie Smith on paternity leave and back-up Jordan Cox nursing an injured thumb, England will use Ollie Pope behind the stumps and the regular top-order batter will drop to No.6 as a result.

All-rounder Ben Stokes will captain the side, with Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse making up the pace attack and the trio joined by spinner Shoaib Bashir in a strong bowling line-up.

WATCH: Lord's to host World Test Championship Final

While England are out of contention for next year's World Test Championship Final, New Zealand can still sneak into the one-off Test decider with a 3-0 series whitewash at home.

The first Test commences on Thursday, with the series then moving to Wellington and Hamilton for the final two Tests.

England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope (wk), Ben Stokes (c), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir