It is very much a batting day, and the New Zealand openers will hope to take advantage.

Neither have had an especially good series to date - Tom Latham has a best score of 27 but otherwise hasn't passed four, while Devon Conway made 41 in the second innings at Lord's but has a high of 11 in his other three innings.

Just one run in this opening over, as Latham tucks Atkinson square.

Right, away we go then.

Gus Atkinson will take the new ball at Trent Bridge, he bowls to New Zealand captain Tom Latham with Devon Conway stood at the non-striker's end.

Anthems time in Nottingham.

The two teams are already working up a sweat - most of the New Zealand line-up will be happy to return to the relative cool of the dressing room, but there's no escape for England.

So, as you may be aware, it's a bit hot.

The BBC forecast predicts a high of 31 degrees at around 3pm today, with uninterrupted sunshine.

Tomorrow is predicted to similarly cloudless with a high of 33 at roughly the same time, but the weekend will be marginally cooler and might feature a smattering of rain.

New Zealand have lost their biggest stars from The Oval with Matt Henry and Glenn Phillips missing out.

After a sub-par performance at Lord's, veteran seamer Henry took 5-80 and 6-29 as England were comprehensively defeated.

Meanwhile the 253-run margin of victory might have been considerably smaller had Phillips not struck a first innings century from number seven, taking his side from 188-5 to 391 all out.

Blair Tickner and Mitchell Santner come in, the former played in the Test against Ireland prior to this series but the latter hasn't played any senior cricket since he featured in the IPL in late April.

England: Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (c), Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Shoaib BashirNew Zealand: Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Mitch Santner, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Ben Sears, Will O'Rourke

Image source, Getty Images

England captain Ben Stokes: "We would've had a bat as well.

"It's very good to be back. We have some fond memories sof playing series against New Zealand, this is no different. It's a massive game for the team, for myself, and hopefully we can lift the trophy at the end.

"Whatever role you play in a team, you want to do as well as you can nice. It was nice to get runs for Durham but that doesn't automatically mean success the following week.

On leaving out Ollie Robinson: "A few factors. We've given ourselves more options in our squads - we've had bigger squads than we usually do, for different conditions.We're not pigeonholing ourselves to do the same things over and over again. It's a conditions-based selection and it's always good to see Jofra Archer in an England shirt.

"We've got amazing memories at Trent Bridge, it's a good ground for us and Shoaib Bashir has fond memories here too. He's done really well in the matches he's played here. The way the weather is looking he could be in a for a good old stint later in the match."

New Zealand captain Tom Latham: "We're going to have a bat, it looks a dry surface so we want to make use of it first up.

"Unfortunately Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry have been ruled out with some niggles so Mitchell Santner and Ben Sears come in. Kyle Jamieson is rested because of workload and Blair Tickner is in.

"Matt Henry is a big miss, he's someone who brings a lot of experience, but also his skill and workload and obviously we'll be missing him this week, but hopefully he can get well soon."

It's baking in the United Kingdom, there has never been a more bat-first Test.

New Zealand's Tom Latham wins the toss and makes the obvious call.

England will toil in the heat.

Yes, England welcome back Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson at Trent Bridge after the pair missed the Test at The Oval because of a much-discussed incident at a London night club.

The pair, plus returning new father Jamie Smith, come back in for last week's debutants James Rew, Ollie Cox and Sonny Baker, while Shoaib Bashir will hope to bowl his first ball of the series as he returns for Matthew Fisher.

It's essentially back to the line-up that won the first Test at Lord's bar Jofra Archer playing instead of Ollie Robinson, who is fit again but has not been selected.

We're 1-1 in the series

Image source, Getty Images

A Test at Lord's with three innings that didn't break 200?

A Test at The Oval featuring three debutants, an absent captain and a 253-run victory for the tourists?

One day of normal Test cricket at Trent Bridge?

Will never happen...