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 battle for second place on the ICC Test Championship Table at the 1 April cut-off date resulted in a photo-finish between England and India on Tuesday. In the end, the thrilling draw at Auckland in the third and final Test at Auckland against New Zealand handed England the number-two rank on the 1 April cut-off date.

England needed to win or draw the Auckland Test to secure the second position, India not only needed to win the Delhi Test but also had to hope for a New Zealand victory in the Auckland Test. If New Zealand had won the series 1-0, then India could have finished in second position at the 1 April cut-off date.

Shane Watson will become Australia’s 44th Test captain today after Michael Clarke was withdrawn from the fourth and final Test against India with a back injury.

Watson said it was an honour to be appointed to the role; “It’s really a dream come true to be asked to captain your country. I’ve captained some one-day internationals, but to be asked to captain a Test will be the ultimate honour.

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.

Centurions of the Wellington and Mohali Tests have made impressive gains in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen released on Tuesday.

In Wellington, England’s Nick Compton’s 100 was his second successive century, and his teammate Jonathan Trott scored 121 in a drawn encounter against New Zealand. In Mohali, openers Murali Vijay scored 153 and debutant Shikhar Dhawan hit 187 to set up their side’s six-wicket victory over Australia, which gave India a 3-0 lead in the four-Test series.

The battle for second place on the ICC Test Championship Table is still a three-way race between England, Australia and India. This is despite the fact that England was held to a draw by New Zealand in Dunedin and India leads Australia 2-0 in the four-Test series.

The three sides are currently separated by 13 ratings points on the Championship table which will be updated at the conclusion of India-Australia and New Zealand-England Test series on 26 March and will also reflect results from West Indies-Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka-Bangladesh series.