England have confirmed the call-up of Jacob Bethell for their Test tour of New Zealand next month as part of a squad showing little change following the defeat to Pakistan.

Warwickshire all-rounder Bethell comes in for Jamie Smith, who will miss the whole tour for the birth of his first child. The uncapped Jordan Cox will deputise with the gloves, with Bethell providing batting cover and the retained vice-captain Ollie Pope the reserve wicketkeeper in the squad.

Strikingly, England will take three spinners to New Zealand – not normally a nation known for its turning pitches – with Rehan Ahmed’s impressive performance in the defeat in Rawalpindi earning him a spot on the plane alongside Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach. There is also no change to the seam battery, with Mark Wood still injured and Josh Hull to remain with the Lions in South Africa.

England have stuck with Pope, who is averaging 32 from No 3 this year despite making three impressive hundreds, and opted not to call up specialist top three cover. Bethell has designs over a place in the top three but so far has been used largely in the lower middle order by his county.

There has been particular focus on the role of Pope, the No 3 who made 55 runs in five innings, but McCullum backed him on Saturday.

“I have no doubt, and the skipper has no doubt, that our batting group that we’ve now had together for the best part of 18 months is the best that we’ve got,” said McCullum. “We know when Popey gets in he gets big scores. It is not an easy place to bat at No 3. I know Popey will be disappointed with the volume of runs he has got.

“I expect him to bounce back in New Zealand and we will make sure he has the support around him to do so.”

Bethell continues a theme of left-field solutions to England’s Test issues, with Shoaib Bashir and Josh Hull both selected this year despite not making an impression in the County Championship. In 20 matches, the Warwickshire man averages 25, with five half-centuries, mainly batting down the order at No 6. His left-arm spin, which has proved useful in white-ball cricket, has brought just seven wickets at an average of 96.

However, Bethell has ambitions at the top of the order in red-ball cricket and did make 123 from No 3 captaining England Under-19s in Brisbane against their Australian counterparts in February last year. He also looked at home in the international game last month, making some striking contributions from down the order against Australia.