Pope kept for 68 overs on day two of England’s warm-up in place of Cox without putting a foot wrong. England drew a contrived game, ending five runs short of victory, chasing 201 off 22 overs. Root made an unbeaten 82 off 54 balls.

Over the two days, the batsmen and bowlers all had a decent workload. Even James Anderson came out of retirement. The bowling coach donned his whites for the first time since his Test farewell at Lord’s to field while Zak Crawley and Harry Brook were having a net.

England gambled on not picking a reserve keeper for New Zealand and it has bitten them. For years, they could rely on having Jonny Bairstow or Jos Buttler in the same squad, both specialist keeping all-rounders.

Pope stood in as an emergency keeper for Ben Foakes for two Tests in Pakistan two years ago and when Buttler had a back spasm in Hamilton in 2019, but he is very much a last-ditch option.

He is capable at the job but since he last kept wicket for England his responsibilities have expanded as Ben Stokes’s deputy and there is constant focus over his inconsistency with the bat. He needs a good series after averaging 11 in Pakistan and could do without the added burden of keeping while trying to rediscover his form against a New Zealand side on a high after their 3-0 whitewash of India.

The injury is a cruel blow for Cox who was a spare batsman in the summer against Sri Lanka and in Pakistan. He kept well on day one of the Prime Minister’s XI match and worked hard with McCullum on his keeping skills in Pakistan in preparation for playing against New Zealand in place of Jamie Smith, who is on paternity leave.

But now he will have to wait again for his chance after he was struck while facing throwdowns from assistant coach Jeetan Patel. He was whisked straight to hospital, returning after lunch when the management were told he was out of the tour.

Cox was a gamble selection by England, because he had not kept in red-ball cricket for 15 months until the first day in Queenstown. He was picked on his potential with the bat and England were confident they could get his keeping up to speed in time.

McCullum, speaking at around the same time that Cox was hit in the nets and before he knew about the injury, sang his praises. “He’s been impressive,” he said. “He’s like an athlete with gloves on. Rather than focus on the technical side, [we have told him] just be the athlete with gloves on and just embrace that. He’s got a really nice ability … when it hits his gloves, it just sounds nice and soft. That’s what you judge.”

Unlike Cox and Smith, Robinson is the first-choice keeper for his county. He has been prolific with the bat as well, averaging 48 for Durham last season and 58 in 2023. He was close to selection in the summer but England opted for Smith based on his ability with the bat. Smith kept tidily against West Indies and Sri Lanka and immediately looked the part as a batsman but dropped a couple of crucial catches on the tour to Pakistan.

Phil Salt, Bairstow and Foakes are all possible options. England see Salt at this stage as a white-ball player and there is a desire to regenerate the team and deepen the squad with new talent rather than go back to Bairstow, who is 35, and Foakes, who was dropped after the 4-1 defeat in India this year and lost his central contract.

Bethell arrived in New Zealand only on Sunday, flying into Christchurch with Rehan Ahmed. The pair were allowed a few days at home after playing in the Twenty20 series against West Indies which finished a week ago.

Bethell is seen as the next rising star by the management and they will relish throwing him in this week after the 21-year-old underlined his potential with three fifties in the Caribbean.