LONDON (AP) Gary Ballance has won an England recall for the first test against South Africa, with the uncapped Toby Roland-Jones and spinner Liam Dawson also included in the squad.
Thursday’s match at Lord’s will be Joe Root’s first since succeeding Alastair Cook as England captain and his Yorkshire teammate Ballance, the second highest scorer in this season’s English county championship with 815 runs, will slot in at number three.
The left-handed batsman was named in the 12-man squad on Saturday after making just 24 runs in four torturous innings in Bangladesh in October.
Seam bowler Roland-Jones was picked for his home ground, with fellow seamers Chris Woakes and Jake Ball ruled out, while slow left-armer Dawson is retained ahead of Adil Rashid after making his debut in Chennai in Cook’s final test as skipper in India.