Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence in shootout for Ashes batting spot with few chances to prove themselves

England’s attempts to seize control of this first Test against New Zealand were frustrated after persistent rain saw the entire third day washed out.

Both teams will try again at Lord’s on Saturday with England resuming their first innings on 111 for two with captain Joe Root unbeaten on 42 alongside opener Rory Burns, who on 59.

Given the hosts are still 267 runs behind New Zealand’s first-innings total of 378, a draw looks the most likely result.

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Yet there is still plenty at stake for England’s players over the remaining two days of this match – particularly for three young batsmen in Ollie Pope, Dan Lawrence and James Bracey.

With Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, both mainstays in the top seven, likely to be back for the second Test series of the summer against India, the competition for places will only intensify ahead of this winter’s Ashes in Australia.

For Pope and Lawrence there is likely to be only one spot still available for either of them in England’s XI come the first Test against Virat Kohli’s team at Trent Bridge on 4 August.

That is at No 6 and runs in this series could and probably should be the deciding factor in who gets the nod to face India.

Pope is a batsmen of rare promise. He had a breakthrough year in 2020 when he scored his maiden Test century against South Africa at Port Elizabeth – an innings that sandwiched two half-centuries that helped England win Tests at Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Another two half-centuries – including 91 against the West Indies at Old Trafford ­– followed last summer before a shoulder injury during the third Test against Pakistan in August ruled him out for the rest of the year.

The returns since have been slim, with Pope averaging just 19.12 across four Tests in India and managing a top score of just 34.

Runs are needed by the 23-year-old in what is his 18th Test and he will be next in to bat whenever Root and Burns’ partnership is broken at Lord’s.

Promoted to No5 for this series given Stokes’ absence, this is an opportunity for the Surrey batsman to put a poor winter behind him and remind everybody of his talent.

Yet he will have Lawrence, also 23, to contend with, too, in this series. The Essex batsman is looking to build on a winter that saw him start and end well. The debut half-century in the opening Test against Sri Lanka at Galle in January was a sign of how good the youngster can be. He was then dropped after two disappointing performances in the first two Tests against India. But he showed character to come back impressively when he was surprisingly recalled for the final Test in Ahmedabad, scoring 46 and then a breezy fifty in a second innings that saw England’s other batsmen score just 73 runs between them.

Lawrence knows a statement score in his first innings of the summer could be crucial in keeping him in the team beyond this series. He’s the type of character, too, who might just rise to the occasion after playing his first five Tests in tough conditions overseas.

Bracey, who will bat at No 7, is also looking to show he can prosper as a specialist batsman after being given his Test debut in this match ostensibly as a wicketkeeper to cover Buttler’s absence.

The 24-year-old has stated ambitions of batting in the top three and with Dominic Sibley’s dismal run of form – including six successive single-figure scores –  a good performance in his first Test from Bracey could see him force his way into the top-order equation.

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