Cricket-England drop Crawley, pick Gay to open batting

May 13 (Reuters) - England have dropped opener Zak Crawley and selected Emilio Gay as Ben Duckett's 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 an impressive County Championship run that includes three centuries. Uncapped fast bowler Sonny Baker and wicketkeeper-batter James Rew were also included.

The overhaul followed criticism of England's reluctance to move on from out-of-form players during the Ashes. Ollie Pope, dropped ahead of the third test in Australia, was not recalled to the squad.

The bowling unit is strengthened by the return of Ollie Robinson, and Gus Atkinson was named despite being struck twice on the helmet while batting for Surrey against Nottinghamshire in the County Championship on Sunday.

England are without Jofra Archer, who is on Indian Premier League duty, creating an opening for Baker. 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 with the opening test of the New Zealand series.

England host New Zealand for three tests in June before taking on India in eight limited-overs matches later in the season.

The England and Wales Cricket Board also announced the appointment of Australian Marcus North as England men's national selector.

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. (Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)