England have dropped Shoaib Bashir from their squad for the three-Test series in South Africa, handing uncapped Nottinghamshire left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White a maiden call-up in Stephen Fleming’s first selection.
The ECB announced the 15-member squad on Monday, with Joe Root captaining a series that begins at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on December 17. It is Fleming’s first assignment since taking charge, and he travelled from his home in New Zealand to help finalise the squad.
Bashir’s omission is the eye-catching call. The 23-year-old has taken 71 wickets in 21 Tests since his debut against India in Visakhapatnam in February 2024, and was the only specialist red-ball spinner handed a central contract last month. But he did not play in any of England’s three home Tests at the end of the summer, and Patterson-White has leapfrogged both Bashir and Rehan Ahmed in the pecking order, while Somerset’s Jack Leach, who played the last of his 39 Tests in October 2024, was also passed over.
Patterson-White, who turned 28 on Sunday, took the most wickets of any spinner in Division One this summer — 42 at 25.11. “Liam Patterson-White’s selection comes on the back of a strong summer in the Rothesay County Championship,” said England men’s national selector Marcus North. “We have selected a strong and balanced squad that is ready for the challenge of facing a South African team that are ICC Test world champions and who returned to the top of the ICC Test rankings following their recent 2-1 series win over Australia.”
Jacob Bethell returns after recovering from the knee injury he suffered during England’s ODI series against India. His return comes at the expense of Ollie Pope, who has been dropped. Bashir will travel with the England Lions instead, in their 18-member red-ball squad for two four-day matches in South Africa.
England play a warm-up match against a CSA XI in Durban from December 9 to 11, with the second Test to follow at SuperSport Park in Centurion. The squad arrives in two groups: Cook, Gay, Lawrence, Patterson-White, Robinson and Smith fly out early with the Lions for a camp in Pietermaritzburg on November 25, while Archer, Atkinson, Baker, Duckett and Root return to the United Kingdom after the ODI series in Australia before flying out on December 2. Brook, Bethell and Cox leave Australia after the fourth T20I in Sydney on November 29 and fly directly to South Africa.
England’s squad for the Test series against South Africa: Joe Root (captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Dan Lawrence, Liam Patterson-White, Ollie Robinson, Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Josh Tongue.
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