Ben Duckett and Josh Tongue have retained their places in a 15-strong England Men’s squad for the first Test against New Zealand.

Duckett and Tongue are joined by uncapped trio Sonny Baker, Emilio Gay, and James Rew, while Sussex all-rounder Ollie Robinson returns to the squad after two years away.

Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir make up the spin options, while Durham’s Gay is in line to make a Test debut at the top of the order as Zak Crawley misses out.

Tongue in particular enjoyed a sparkling Ashes series over the most recent winter, claiming 18 wickets at just 20.11 apiece.

His seven match wickets in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, including a first-innings 5/45, earned him the prestigious Johnny Mullagh Medal as the player of the match.

In doing so, he became the first English bowler to be named player of the match in an away Ashes Test since 1998.

He has continued his form into the 2026 season, claiming 11 wickets in four County Championship innings, including a five-wicket haul against Warwickshire at Trent Bridge.

Duckett has similarly profited since the beginning of the ongoing summer, making an unbeaten 203 against Surrey on his way to a total of 503 Championship runs at 83.83.

England Men Squad for first Rothesay Test v New Zealand

Ben Stokes (Durham) (c)

Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire)

Gus Atkinson (Surrey)

Sonny Baker (Hampshire)

Shoaib Bashir (Derbyshire)

Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire)

Harry Brook (Yorkshire)

Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)

Matthew Fisher (Surrey)

Emilio Gay (Durham)

James Rew (Somerset)

Ollie Robinson (Sussex)

Joe Root (Yorkshire)

Jamie Smith (Surrey)

Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire)