Joe Root To Lead England In South Africa Tests; Liam Patterson-White Gets Maiden Call-Up

England have selected a 15-member squad for their three-Test series in South Africa, with Joe Root named to lead the side and Liam Patterson-White handed his first Test call-up. Those matches fall under the 2025-27 World Test Championship.

Jacob Bethell is back after a knee injury, while spinner Shoaib Bashir and batter Ollie Pope have been left out. Dan Lawrence returns as a batting option who can also offer support with the ball.

Selection and call-ups

His strong 2026 County Championship season earned Liam Patterson-White a place in the squad. He finished as the competition's leading spinner.

England's pace options are Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Ollie Robinson, Sam Cook and Sonny Baker. Marcus North, the national selector, said there were two changes from the side that beat Pakistan 3-0 in the home summer, with Patterson-White coming in for a maiden call-up and Bethell returning from injury.

“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,” North said.

WTC Context And Schedule

England are sixth in the 2025-27 World Test Championship table on 38.64 percentage points. South Africa are second on 71.43 per cent.

The first Test is scheduled for Johannesburg from December 17 to 21. The second will be played in Centurion from December 26 to 30, and Cape Town will host the finale from January 3 to 7. England's limited-overs trip to Australia comes next.

Full England squad

England squad: Joe Root (c), 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, Josh Tongue