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Spinner Patterson-White and batter Bethell named in England's test squad to tour South Africa

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.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 3 sources•2 min read•Updated November 9, 2026, 12:03 PM UTC
Key points
  • The potential importance of spin bowling in South Africa was demonstrated in their recent home series against Australia, which the hosts won to propel themselves to No1 in the ICC rankings and in which their most successful bowler was Simon Harmer, who took 14 wickets at 29.35.
  • “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,” England men’s selector Marcus North said.
  • Patterson-White was selected over Shoaib Bashir, who is named in the England Lions red-ball squad, while spin-bowling allrounder Rehan Ahmed goes into the Lions' white-ball squad.

LONDON (AP) — Spinner Liam Patterson-White earned his first test call-up for the three-test cricket series away to South Africa while Jacob Bethell is recalled following a knee injury.

Additional details
  • Prior to the first test, Fleming's side plays a warm-up match against a Cricket South Africa (CSA) XI in Durban.
  • “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.
  • Veteran batting great Joe Root captains the side as he searches for his England record-extending 42nd test century and looks to close in on 15,000 runs.
  • Pacer Brydon Carse — who was dropped from the test side in August following a late-night incident — is in both of those squads along with experienced batter Ollie Pope, who lost his test place at No.
  • England named its squad on Monday for what will be Stephen Fleming’s first series as head coach after Brendan McCullum was fired following a dismal Ashes defeat in Australia.

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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Every article behind this summary — 3 articles from 3 outlets

The Guardian SportNovember 9, 2026, 12:03 PM UTC → Yahoo SportsNovember 9, 2026, 12:01 PM UTC → Sky SportsNovember 9, 2026, 12:00 PM UTC →

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