Patterson-White wins maiden England call in Test squad for South Africa

Nottinghamshire allrounder Liam Patterson-White has earned his maiden Test call-up for England's upcoming tour of South Africa. The 28-year-old left-arm spinner is the sole frontline spinning option in new head coach Stephen Fleming's first 15-player squad, chosen ahead of Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed. Patterson-White took 42 County Championship wickets at 25.11 last season, finishing as Division One's leading spin bowler while also scoring a century.

ECB men's national selector Marcus North explained that the selection focused on finding someone to turn the ball away from right-handers on Highveld pitches expected to offer limited turn. Fast bowler Josh Tongue will miss the first Test starting December 17 for the birth of his child, with England planning to call up replacements from an accompanying 18-man Lions red-ball squad that includes the returning Brydon Carse.