England selectors today named an unchanged 12-man squad for the second Test against New Zealand commencing Friday May 24 at Headingley following the 170 run victory against New Zealand in the first Test at Lord’s.

Three Yorkshire players feature in the squad with Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root looking to play their first Test match at their home ground and Tim Bresnan hoping for an opportunity to play in his first Test match since undergoing elbow surgery in February.

England selectors today named a 12-man squad for the first Investec Test against New Zealand commencing Thursday May 16 at Lord’s. Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann are the only members of the squad who did not play any part in the 0-0 series draw against New Zealand last winter as both were ruled out with elbow injuries that required surgery.

Geoff Miller, National Selector, said: “We are anticipating another very competitive series against New Zealand and know that we will need to improve significantly on our performances in the recent Test series against them if we are to start the international summer on a positive note. This series provides a good opportunity for the players to show that they have learnt from the experiences over the winter.

The Springbok Sevens team won their second consecutive tournament of the HSBC World Sevens Series on Sunday when they defeated the All Blacks Sevens team 28-21 in the final of the Emirates Airlines Glasgow Sevens tournament.

This victory follows a win in Tokyo last month and makes South Africa the only team in the series to have won three tournaments, following an earlier win in Las Vegas as well.

England and Surrey batsman Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the remaining Test against New Zealand and the Indian Premier League (IPL) which follows it due to an injury to his right knee.

Pietersen experienced knee pain while fielding in preparation for the 4-day game in Queenstown earlier this month, ahead of the Test series. This has failed to resolve satisfactorily.

Recent scans confirm an injury to the right knee with bone bruising and possible cartilage damage to the kneecap. The 32 year old will return to the UK for further investigations and specialist review.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has returned to the top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen after scoring 222 runs in the three-match series against England. McCullum has moved up 16 places to ninth, thereby also achieving a career-best 685 ratings points.

Also breaking into the top 20 is former New Zealand captain Ross Taylor. The right-handed batsman has jumped four places to 13th in the latest rankings, which were released on Monday after the ODI series between England and New Zealand and the first two ODIs between West Indies and Zimbabwe.

England’s 2-1 win in the three-match series against New Zealand has not only given it a perfect build-up to the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, which is just 100 days away, but has also kept it on course for finishing second in the Reliance ICC ODI Championship Table at the 1 April cut-off date.

England’s come-from-behind series win means it has retained second place but has dropped two ratings points to now lead third-ranked Australia by just one ratings point and fourth-ranked South Africa by five ratings points. India has taken an outright lead on top of the table with 119 ratings points.

England Women ended their 2013 World Cup campaign on a high with a four wicket victory over New Zealand to claim third place at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai today. Charlotte Edwards led her side to victory scoring her eighth international century, equalling the record for the most centuries and becoming the first woman to score over 5000 runs in a career.

England won the toss and inserted New Zealand, restricting them to 220-8 from their 50 overs. Holly Colvin emerged as pick of the bowlers, taking three for 31 from her 10 overs and claiming the scalp of the White Ferns’ main contributor Amy Satterthwaite who posted 85.