England drop Zak Crawley, pick Emilio Gay to open and recall Ollie Robinson

England have dropped opener Zak Crawley and selected Emilio Gay as Ben Duckett's likely opening partner in a reshaped squad for the first test against New Zealand, signalling the start of a rebuild after their 4-1 Ashes thrashing in Australia.

Durham's Gay, 26, earned his opportunity after impressive County Championship form including three centuries.

Uncapped fast bowler Sonny Baker and wicketkeeper-batter James Rew were also included and there was a recall for seamer Ollie Robinson after two years out.

England host New Zealand for three tests in June before taking on India in eight limited-overs matches followed by three tests against Pakistan.

Ollie Pope, axed ahead of the third test in Australia, was not recalled to the squad, and Crawley was omitted after a poor start to the County Championship season.

Pace bowler Gus Atkinson was named despite being struck twice on the helmet while batting for Surrey against Nottinghamshire on Sunday.

England are without Jofra Archer, who is on Indian Premier League duty, creating an opening for Baker.

Pace bowler Matt Fisher, who was added to England's Ashes squad when Mark Wood was ruled out, retained his place.

The squad reflects a shift in direction under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum as England look to reset ahead of a busy home summer, which begins at Lord's on June 4.

England men's managing director Rob Key said Robinson, who has 76 test wickets from 20 matches at an impressive average of 22.92, had the opportunity to be the leader of England's attack.

"When he's fit and bowling at a decent pace for him, which is around 82, 83 miles an hour, he is world-class," Key said. "When you look at his record, he is right up there statistically in all the bowlers globally of all time.

"He's back up to his full fitness. He'll add that new-ball skill and it's exciting to see him back."

STOKES COULD TAKE NEW BALL

Key also said that Stokes could be used as a new-ball bowler and that he was keen to get the captain into the attack earlier than has been the case in recent seasons as he nursed various injuries.

Key was asked if supporters could expect to see a different approach from the Ashes, where England's high-risk "Bazball" batting frequently imploded.

"I think what we want is to have players to be able to go out there and play their best game," he said.

"That doesn't mean there's one way of playing, where you're looking to go out there and play shots.

"I spoke to Emilio Gay this morning and said, 'go and play your best game, don't worry about anything else. Work out how you're going to take on that bowling attack at Lord's on the first day on that pitch'"

The ECBalso announced the appointment of Australian Marcus North as England men's national selector. With New Zealander McCullum as coach Key dismissed concerns that no Englishmen were considered suitable for the key roles.

"He has brilliant insight into the county game, he's got a huge amount of experience in international cricket so we just felt he was the best candidate for that job," he said of North.

ENGLAND SQUAD

Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, James Rew, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue.

(Additional reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)