Fleming turns to uncapped spinner for first Test series as England coach

England selectors name a 15-player squad for the three-Test series away to South Africa with uncapped spinner Liam Patterson-White earning a call-up, while Jacob Bethell returns to the Test squad following his knee injury during the summer

England have called up uncapped left-arm finger spinner Liam Patterson-White for this winter's three-Test assignment in South Africa, while Jacob Bethell returns after missing the Pakistan series in the summer through injury.

All-rounder Patterson-White helped Nottinghamshire win the Championship title in 2025 by taking 26 wickets and scoring 540 runs in 11 appearances, and then claimed 42 wickets and scored 474 runs in 14 appearances last season.

Bethell did not feature in August and September's 3-0 sweep of Pakistan due to a knee problem that required surgery but he is back to add to England's batting options for a tour that is live in full on Sky Sports across December and January in what will be Stephen Fleming's first series as head coach.

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Jordan Cox deputised for Bethell at No 3 versus Pakistan, scoring a half-century in each of the three Tests at Headingley, Lord's and Edgbaston.

Joe Root (Yorkshire - captain) 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)

The Essex player's displays have opened up a selection dilemma, with possibly only three spots available between Cox, Bethell, Emilio Gay and Dan Lawrence.

Should England omit opener Gay, who has three fifties across his first six Tests since replacing the dropped Zak Crawley at the start of the summer, Cox or Bethell could potentially partner Ben Duckett at the top of the order.

Middle-order batter and part-time bowler Lawrence was recalled against Pakistan following Ben Stokes' international retirement and acted as the chief spinner as England, with great success, deployed an all-pace frontline attack.

England Men's national selector Marcus North said: "Liam Patterson-White's selection comes on the back of a strong summer in the Rothesay County Championship, when he took the most wickets of any spinner in Division One with 42 at an average of 25.11 and earned his first ECB development contract.

"We have also selected a strong England Lions squad, who will fly out to South Africa on November 25 for a preparation camp before three 50-over matches and two first-class games. Those players will benefit from experiencing South African conditions and ensure we have players who are fit and ready should they be required for the Test series."

Josh Tongue will be unavailable for the first Test to return to the UK for the birth of his first child with Brydon Carse in position to replace him.

North said: "We've picked this squad with Josh Tongue and we're aware he is going to be unavailable for the first Test, as he'll be returning to the UK during that time for the birth of his second child."

Meanwhile, Sam Curran is unavailable for the Test series as he is prioritising his wedding.

"He is obviously prioritising a very special time in his personal life, getting married," said North. "That's something that I just want to say, we understand and support that decision."

However, with South Africa off-spinner Simon Harmer taking 10 wickets in the match as the Proteas thrashed Australia in Cape Town recently to earn a 2-1 series win, England may ponder getting a frontline slow bowler into their side somehow.

Harmer, when appearing on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast last week, said he would have selected left-arm spinner Jack Leach, who has claimed 142 wickets in 39 Tests but not played for England since the tour of Pakistan in late 2024.

England begin the South Africa series in Johannesburg on December 17, before the Boxing Day Test is held at Centurion and the series concludes in Cape Town from January 3.

They then meet the Proteas in three one-day internationals, with one game in Paarl (January 10) and two in Bloemfontein (January 13 and 15).

The six players in the Test squad, who are not involved in the upcoming white-ball series in Australia - Sam Cook, Gay, Lawrence, Patterson-White, Ollie Robinson and Jamie Smith - will fly out to South Africa early with the England Lions squad for a preparation camp in Pietermaritzburg on November 25.

Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Duckett and Joe Root will return to the UK immediately after the ODI series against Australia before flying to South Africa on December 2.

Harry Brook, Bethell and Cox will leave the tour of Australia after the fourth T20 in Sydney on November 29 and fly directly to South Africa.

Shoaib Bashir (Derbyshire) Brydon Carse (Durham) James Coles (Sussex) Mason Crane (Glamorgan) Henry Crocombe (Surrey) Matthew Fisher (Surrey) Jack Haynes (Nottinghamshire) George Hill (Yorkshire) Eddie Jack (Hampshire) Ben Mayes (Hampshire) Ben McKinney (Durham) Ollie Pope (Surrey) Matthew Potts (Durham) James Rew (Somerset) Thomas Rew (Somerset) Mitch Stanley (Lancashire) Olly Stone (Nottinghamshire) Asa Tribe (Glamorgan)

Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire) Brydon Carse (Durham) Mason Crane (Glamorgan) Adam Finch (Worcestershire) Matthew Fisher (Surrey) Calvin Harrison (Northamptonshire) Jack Haynes (Nottinghamshire) George Hill (Yorkshire) Ben Mayes (Hampshire) Ben McKinney (Durham) Ollie Pope (Surrey) James Rew (Somerset) Naavya Sharma (Middlesex) Ekansh Singh (Kent) Asa Tribe (Glamorgan)

December 9-11: Warm-up match v CSA XI; Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban December 17-21: First Test; Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg December 26-20: Second Test; Centurion Park, Centurion January 3-7: Third Test, Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town

December 1: First 50-over match v South Africa A; Pietermaritzburg Oval, Pietermaritzburg December 4: Second 50-over match v South Africa A; Boland Park, Paarl December 6: Third 50-over match v South Africa A; Boland Park, Paarl December 10-13: First four-day match v South Africa A; Tuks Cricket Oval, Pretoria December 18-21: Second four-day match v South Africa A; Willowmoore Park, Benoni

Watch England's three-Test tour of South Africa live on Sky Sports from Thursday December 17. The opening game is at Wanderers in Johannesburg (8am UK time). Get Sky Sports or stream with NOW.