Northern Districts allrounder Daryl Mitchell has been confirmed to make his Black Caps test debut at Hamilton on Thursday.

Ross Taylor said at a press conference on Thursday that Mitchell - the son of former All Blacks coach John Mitchell - will be part of the New Zealand XI to face England in the second test.

Mitchell was called into the squad this week following an abdominal injury to Colin de Grandhomme suffered late in the first test victory in Mount Maunganui.

AP Daryl Mitchell will make his Black Caps test debut at Hamilton on Thursday.

A decision has yet to be made on who will replace injured pace bowler Trent Boult in the XI for the second and final test in the series. With Mitchell's inclusion confirmed, it will come down to a choice between swing bowler Matt Henry and quick Lockie Ferguson.

READ MORE:

* England 'do underestimate NZ'

* Black Caps lose Boult and CDG

* England coach to leave NZ tour

* Cricket will miss NZ v England

* Black Caps batsmen top charts

* Neil Wagner in world top three

* Archer abuse spoils spectacle

England captain Joe Root said the tourists won't name their XI until Friday morning, with wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler tweaking his back in a gym session on Thursday, possibly putting him in doubt.

Taylor said Mitchell had some big shoes to fill.

"But he's had some experience at Twenty20 level and obviously had a very good campaign around first-class level, so looking forward to seeing how he goes tomorrow," Taylor said of the 28-year-old who bats and bowls right-handed.

"He's pretty level-headed, he hasn't shown much emotion. I'm sure he will be nervous, but I'm sure that Twenty20 experience will be worth falling back on."

ANDREW CORNAGA/PHOTOSPORT Lockie Ferguson is also hoping to get the nod from NZ coach Gary Stead for his test debut in Hamilton.

Mitchell has played nine Twenty20 games for New Zealand but hasn't been touted as a test player until now. Regarded more as a batting allrounder, he averages 35.65 in first-class cricket with the bat and has 61 wickets at 33.57 with the ball.

On Wednesday, NZ bowling coach Shane Jurgensen admitted de Grandhomme - who averages world-class all-round figures of 40.33 with the bat and 29.63 with the ball - is a vital cog for the hosts.

"Colin has this habit of coming on and getting wickets - you saw that in the World Cup and you saw it in that test match.

"Maybe he leads them into a false sense of security because he's a little bit slower but he bowls what we call a heavy ball, quite accurate quite skilful."

Jurgensen said Mitchell was looked at to play a similar role.

"He's got the capabilities of what Colin's been doing."

Taylor said the decision on Boult's replacement won't be made until the morning of the test.

"I think the wicket is drying our a lot at the moment - it's changed a lot since we've been here so it'll be interesting with the overhead conditions in the morning and what the toss will be.

I think they both would do very well. They're slightly different bowlers but they've both got their strengths and whoever we go with have got some big shoes again to fill with Trent, but I'm sure they'll do very well.

"Lockie has that extra pace but Henry with the new ball has been very effective for us - the last time we played here against South Africa he had a lot of success."