ECB (England Cricket Board) have announced squad for the four-match Test series to be played against South Africa, starting from a boxing day game in Centurion.
It will be a crucial series for both sides to gain some points and improve their ranking in the ICC Test championship.
Earlier, this year, England couldn’t win Ashes against Australia in their own home soil followed by their two-match Test series defeat by 1-0 against New Zealand.
England have only made one change to the squad that lost the Test series to New Zealand with Saqib Mahmood replacing Jimmy Anderson, who sustained a calf injury during the Ashes in August.
Jonny Bairstow makes his way back into the longer format as a proper backup for Jos Buttler in the upcoming Test series.
England Test squad: Joe Root (capt), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wk), Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope (wk), Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
