Venue: Lord's Dates: 2-6 June |
Coverage: Daily highlights on BBC Two and iPlayer. Ball-by-ball Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, Radio 4 LW, online, tablets, mobiles and BBC Sport app. Live text commentary and clips on the BBC Sport website and app. |
Bairstow says that being England's Test captain will be a learning curve for Ben.
England have just one win in their past 17 Tests and have a new captain.
The first Test between England and New Zealand will be the first outing for new England captain and coach, Brendon McCullum.
Bairstow told the Test Match Special that there wouldn't be much change from the player.
His captaincy will be the same as he goes about his bowling and batting in a whole hearted way.
When Joe Root missed the first Test against West Indies in 2020 to attend the birth of his second child, he was replaced by Ben Stokes.
He led the one-day international side to a whitewash of Pakistan in the summer of 2016 after a Covid outbreak forced England to name a completely new squad.
Bairstow said that England supporters will have to be patient and excited for the new era under the leadership of the permanent captain.
He said that it was going to be a learning experience for him.
It will be a learning curve, but the experience that he has around him, and the visions that he has, are great.
It is going to be an exciting brand of cricket if we pull together in the right direction.
Bairstow played a key role in England's white-ball transformation that resulted in their World Cup win and says that a similar transition is due for the Test side.
It took a period of time for that transition to happen.
It was the way in which someone had the courage to go that was brave. This is the way that we are going to play and we are going to stick to that.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad were left out of the West Indies tour in March but are in contention to play in the first Test.
The County XI beat New Zealand in a warm-up game on Thursday, but Ollie Robinson was withdrawn because of a back problem.
Robinson will have his back injury assessed once his isolation period ends this week after he tested positive for Covid-19.
Chriswoakes, Mark Wood, Olly Stone and Sam Curran have also been dealing with injuries and have been ruled out for lengthy periods.
New Zealand have named a 15-man squad for the three-game series but have said that Trent Boult and Henry Nicholls may not play in the first Test.
Boult is only expected to arrive in the UK on Monday after playing in the IndianPL final on Sunday.