England announce Playing XI for the Pink-Ball clash against New Zealand
Anderson and Broad have played together since September last year
The Ben Stokes-led unit has announced their Playing XI for the first Test against New Zealand starting Thursday at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui. James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who haven't played together for the last five months, are the most notable inclusions from their team.
Apart from the Anderson-Broad, the Three Lions have picked Ollie Robinson as a medium pacer; while Jack Leach will be the lone tweaker.
As expected, the English team management has gone with six pure batters, and Ben Foakes will keep the wickets.
After an enthralling tour of Pakistan, England have struck with the attacking Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett as openers. The young prodigy Ollie Pope will bat at number three, and the in-form Harry Brook will play at five.
After from the young blood batters, captain Stokes and Joe Root will be there to bring stability to the team, which only operates on the gung-ho approach of Bazball.
On the other end, Tim Southee and company are still looking for their arsenal of fast bowlers due to the ongoing Cyclone Gabrielle, which doesn't permit them to fly in players from outside Mount Maunganui.
After an injury blow to a returning Kyle Jamieson, the home team, who was left with no options, called in Jacob Duffy and Scott Kuggeleijn. For this series, they have the services of skipper Southee, Neil Wagner, Blair Tickner, Duffy and Kuggeleijn.
In these circumstances, the Blackcaps will have a tough time in the two-match Test series against England, who are on a winning streak since Stokes and Brendon McCullum have taken their reigns.
 "Arjun Bhalla")
