Uncapped Nottinghamshire spinner Liam Patterson-White named in England Test squad for South Africa
Uncapped Nottinghamshire spinner Liam Patterson-White has been called into England’s squad for the three-Test series in South Africa that starts in Johannesburg next month. The 28-year-old has been rewarded for a productive County Championship season with his first senior Test selection.
Patterson-White finished as the County Championship's most successful spinner this summer with 42 wickets and was handed a 12-month development deal when the England and Wales Cricket Board announced their central contracts last month. England have also selected spin-bowling options in Dan Lawrence, Joe Root and Jacob Bethell, with Bethell returning after missing England’s most recent Test series, against Pakistan, through injury. Shoaib Bashir, meanwhile, will travel only with the Lions rather than the senior touring party.
The potential value of spin in South Africa was underlined by the hosts’ recent home series against Australia, in which Simon Harmer took 14 wickets at 29.35. “We’ve got two Tests in the Highveld, which is slightly different to what Australia had,” said Marcus North, England men’s national selector. “Highveld tends to not spin as much, so it tends to be more favourable for the pace bowlers. But we feel we’ve got that balance within our squad that if we didn’t pick a specialist spinner we have got plenty of options that could support four quicks.”
Patterson-White, who turned 28 on Sunday, was singled out by North for the ability to turn the ball away from right-handers and for his consistency. “We were looking for someone to spin the ball away from the right-hander,” said North. “Liam has got some great attributes. There’s a lot of consistency with Liam and his bowling. We feel he’s really matured over the last two seasons at Nottinghamshire. He’s got the ability to hold, but also to get into the game at the back end.”
Durham seamer Brydon Carse, who has not been picked by England since being involved in an altercation outside a Derby nightclub in August, will join the Lions along with Matthew Potts, Olly Stone and Matthew Fisher. At least one member of that Lions squad will be promoted for the first Test, which Josh Tongue is scheduled to miss for the birth of his second child. “In the last few months he’s kind of stood back and there’s been a ton of reflection. It’s obviously been a challenging time,” said North of Carse. “We feel that he’s in a place where we can introduce him back into the England environment and we feel the Lions is the right place for him to come.”
England have yet to decide how, or if, Bethell will be accommodated after his knee injury, and the selectors face choices at the top of the order after Jordan Cox averaged 50.50 in the No3 position during Bethell’s absence. Over the home summer Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay averaged 26.36 and 24.63 respectively, and 20.40 as a pair, leaving the selectors considering their opening options. “That’s going to be a difficult decision,” said North. “We know we’ve got a number of different options and balances that we can go with. Coming into this Test series, I think it’s fair to say that we’re not walking in there with a locked-in six. We’re keeping our minds open.”
England are currently ranked fifth in Tests by the ICC and sit sixth in the World Test Championship standings; South Africa, the defending champions, are second. North said England’s ambition is to “climb up those rankings to be No1”. “That means taking the World Test Championship far and deep as well,” he added. “The best teams in the world, like South Africa, Australia, India and New Zealand, are all competing for [places in] that final, so that’s a place we want to be in. You can’t do that without winning series away from home and those big series against the best teams in the world. The focus is now how we’re going to dot hat and what we need to put in place to give our players the best opportunity to fulfil their talent as individuals and as a side which then fulfils those objectives of being the best in the world.” Sam Curran asked not to be considered for the series, which clashes with his wedding, a decision North said he “understands and supports”.
The three-Test series starts in Johannesburg next month; England Men’s Test squad: Joe Root (Yorkshire; capt), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Sonny Baker (Hampshire), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Sam Cook (Essex), Jordan Cox (Essex), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Emilio Gay (Durham), Dan Lawrence (Surrey), Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire).