LEEDS: England captain Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat in the second and final Test against New Zealand at Headingley on Saturday after Friday's scheduled first day was washed out without a ball bowled.
England were unchanged from the side that won the first Test by 170 runs at Lord's last week, where they dismissed New Zealand for just 68 in the tourists' second innings, with Stuart Broad taking seven wickets for 44 runs.
That meant that Yorkshire seamer Tim Bresnan, again included in England's squad, missed out on playing a Test on his home ground.
New Zealand made two enforced changes due to injuries suffered during the first Test.
Batsman Martin Guptill replaced wicket-keeper BJ Watling (knee) and seamer Doug Bracewell came in for spinner Bruce Martin (calf).
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, who deputised behind the stumps at Lord's for Watling, confirmed Thursday he would keep wicket, despite having given up keeping in Tests full-time in 2010 because of back and knee problems.
The tourists hopes of recalling spinner Daniel Vettori after nearly a year out of Test cricket through injury ended when the former New Zealand captain was declared unfit on Thursday.
Blue skies and bright sunshine above Headingley promised a full day's play.
It was at Headingley that New Zealand won their first Test in England in 1983.
Teams
England: Alastair Cook (capt), Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior (wkt), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Steven Finn, James Anderson
New Zealand: Peter Fulton, Hamish Rutherford, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Doug Brownlie, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum (capt/wkt), Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult
Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) and Marais Erasmus (RSA)
TV umpire: Aleem Dar (PAK)
Match referee: David Boon (AUS)
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