James Anderson and Stuart Broad included in England Test squad to face New Zealand

Anderson and Broad – who have claimed 1,177 Test wickets between them – were controversially omitted for the recent tour of the West Indies, leading to speculation that both may have played their last games for England.

However, the pair have reaffirmed their commitment to earning recalls by making strong starts to the summer in the County Championship, and once new captain Ben Stokes stated his desire for the duo to come back, their return was a forgone conclusion.

Furthermore, with a spate of injuries meaning the likes of Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Saqib Mahmood and Matt Fisher are all unavailable, along with long-term absentee Jofra Archer, Stokes and new head coach Brendon McCullum will no doubt be grateful to have the services of two experienced, high-class fast bowlers.

Craig Overton appears likely to fill the role of the third seamer, though Durham paceman Matthew Potts has been rewarded for his impressive efforts in domestic cricket this season and has been included in the 13-man squad, similarly Yorkshire's Harry Brook who appears to be vying with Ollie Pope for the number three spot.

Dan Lawrence is a notable casualty from the series defeat to the West Indies, but Alex Lees retains his place having kicked off the county season with two centuries for Durham.

Ben Foakes is also retained along with Jonny Bairstow, the latter expected to fly home early from the IPL to prepare for the first Test which begins at Lord's on June 2.

Rob Key Managing Director for England Men's Cricket, said: "This is the start of a new era for our Test team under the stewardship of Ben (Stokes) and Brendon (McCullum). With a blend of youth and experience, we have selected an exciting squad that can compete with New Zealand in next month's Test series.

"We have rewarded players in Harry Brook and Matty Potts who have had outstanding starts to the county season, and they deserve the opportunity to stake a claim at this level.

"It promises to be a mouthwatering series, and I can't wait for the team to start against a very good New Zealand side. It is a fascinating prospect for everyone connected with the sport in this country."

Richard Mann's analysis

Anderson and Broad to carry the load again

You can only work with what you've got.

England's squad for the first two Tests against New Zealand smacks of that, with James Anderson and Stuart Broad making welcome returns, but the make-up of the rest of the bowling attack lacking pace and that point of difference England have become obsessed with over the last few years.

In this instance, injuries mean that England didn't really have many other options and whether Craig Overton or Matthew Potts lines up as the third seamer at Lord's, the lack of a genuine fast bowler might hurt the hosts if the pitches are flat and the weather good.

That being said, England fans should be very relieved that Anderson and Broad didn't opt to retire when dropped for the recent tour of the Caribbean. Had that been the case, it's hard to imagine what sort of attack England would have been able to field against New Zealand and as gambles go, the one taken by then captain Joe Root, along with Paul Collingwood and Andrew Strauss, was about as bad as it gets.

Thankfully, the ever-reliable duo will be back for another home summer, though Anderson will need to be sharper than when these two sides met for a two-Test series last year. Anderson was noticeably rusty as England lost the series 1-0, his three wickets coming at an average of 68.66, before he proved a much different proposition against India later in the summer.

Anderson has kicked off the County Championship season by claiming 11 wickets at 19.54 in three matches for Lancashire and he was particularly impressive in the second innings of the drawn match with Yorkshire at the weekend, knocking over Joe Root in a superb spell on day four.

Despite growing calls for fellow Lancastrian Matt Parkinson to be handed his first Test cap, Jack Leach retains his place as the number one spinner in the side. Leach was England's best bowler in the West Indies and deserves an extended run now, and it will be interesting to see if he can grow into his role given the close relationship he enjoys with new captain Ben Stokes.

Number three beckons for Pope in latest lifeline

England clearly rate Ollie Pope highly, and despite his dwindling returns and a quite horrific showing in last winter's Ashes, the overdraft is set to be extended once again. This time, the stakes couldn't be higher, with Pope now likely to be tasked with making the troublesome number three spot his own.

There have been occasions when Pope has looked every inch a world-class Test batsman. At times, particularly in South Africa in early 2020, it might have even been argued that he was the best batsman in England.

But that didn't last long and the maiden Test century he registered on that tour remains his only three-figure score for England. Since the beginning of 2021, Pope has averaged 20.37 in 10 Tests. In all, he averages 28.66 from 23 matches. Those numbers just aren't good enough.

The most frustrating part of the Pope puzzle isn't just that a young man England have invested heavily in hasn't made the grade, it's that a patently fine player with an outstanding domestic record has so far failed to consistently transfer that to Test cricket. The glimpses of brilliance we have seen from him confirms that Pope has the game, but that only adds to the frustration. The comparisons with Mark Ramprakash are beginning to feel all too accurate.

On the face of it, asking a strokemaker with such natural attacking instincts to bat out of position and move up the order into such a critical role makes little sense, but with Stokes adamant that Root goes back to his favoured position at number four, and Stokes himself and Jonny Bairstow currently in possession of the middle order spots, Pope must take whatever chance he is offered.

It seems England are very much putting the ball into Pope's court now, but with terms and conditions. They have once again thrown their support behind the Surrey man, but this time what they can't do is offer him the protection he has so far enjoyed when batting down at number six.

He either takes this latest in a long list of opportunities by making the number three position his own, or accept that England might decide to cut their losses and finally look elsewhere.

Bairstow to take the gloves?

It came as no surprise to see Ben Foakes named in the squad, and he seems most likely to take the gloves at Lord's. But don't discount a late change of approach from England, with Jonny Bairstow still a possible option as wicketkeeper.

Bairstow has kept wicket for England in 49 Tests already, and by and large, he did a pretty good job. When Bairstow was replaced by Jos Buttler after the 2019 Ashes, it was more down to his diminishing returns with the bat, opposed to his generally reliable keeping.

Since then he has been forced to win back his spot in the starting XI as a batsman only, but a fine hundred in last winter's Ashes confirmed him to be back to somewhere close to his best in this format and incoming coach Brendon McCullum is sure to approve of his dynamic and aggressive approach.

But his career average his actually better with the gloves than not. Bairstow averages 37.37 in Test cricket as wicketkeeper, including five hundreds, while his average without the gloves is significantly lower at 30.45.

Furthermore, if Bairstow were to take the gloves and bat at number seven, that would make room for Harry Brook to slot into the middle order. Brook has put together three hundreds for Yorkshire already this season, along with an unbeaten second-innings 82 against a Lancashire attack featuring James Anderson and Matt Parkinson last week.

It will be hard for England to ignore Brook's claims for too long – his average in the County Championship currently stands at 151.60 this term – and by opting to replace Foakes with Bairstow behind the stumps, that would allow the young Yorkshireman to slot in at number five, a spot he has filled with distinction for the White Rose.

Much will depend on when exactly Bairstow returns from the IPL, and indeed whether he is deemed to have enjoyed sufficient preparation to go into a Test match, but many of New Zealand's squad are in a similar position and I doubt the player will be keen to sit out a Lord's Test match.

Such a scenario would seem harsh on Foakes, but England's underperforming batting line-up needs all the runs it can muster at present, and finding room for the red-hot Brook would surely strengthen that top seven. It's something Stokes and McCullum would be wise to look at.