The England and Wales Cricket Board on Tuesday announced a three-test tour to New Zealand starting at Christchurch on Nov. 28. After the series opener at Hagley Oval, the tour will move to the North Island for tests in Wellington from Dec. 6-10 and in Hamilton from Dec. 14-18. The last time the test teams met in February and March of last year, they split a two-match series after England was on the verge of a 2-0 victory when skipper Ben Stokes enforced the follow-on. New Zealand won by one run – only the fourth team in history to win a test after following on – in the second test after England won the first by 267 runs. The three matches at the end of this year form part of the World Test Championship, which New Zealand won in its inaugural edition before losing the title to Australia. India, which has won six of nine tests in this edition, leads the WTC standings with Australia in second place and New Zealand in third. England is ninth ahead of home series against West Indies and Sri Lanka. The top two teams will advance to a final at Lord´s in 2025. New Zealand is expecting big crowds when it hosts England in tests in Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton in November and December, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said on Tuesday. NZC chief executive Scott Weenink said there were already indications that the three matches against Brendon McCullum’s team would attract the same sort of bumper attendances witnessed for the two home tests against Australia in February and March. “In the past, there’s often been a lot of talk in New Zealand about the popularity of test cricket – without that translating into ticket sales or viewership numbers,” he said in a news release. “The difference over the past summer, and in terms of the upcoming tests against England, is that the interest is being converted to bums on seats and is driving record viewership numbers.” The first test at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval will begin on Nov. 28 with the Basin Reserve in Wellington hosting the second from Dec. 6-10. The series wraps up at Hamilton’s Seddon Park from Dec. 14-18. The three clashes will form part of the World Test Championship, which New Zealand won in its inaugural edition. New Zealand are currently third in the rankings with England ninth and last.