England vs South Africa: Proteas drop Stephen Cook from Test squad, name 3 uncapped players

Cricket South Africa on Monday named three new caps in the Test squad for the four-match series against England, which will begin in July. [caption id=“attachment_3747521” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Cricket South Africa dropped Stephen Cook from the Test squad for the England series. AFP[/caption] Opening batsman Heino Kuhn, all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo and batsman Aiden Markram earned call-ups through consistent performances in domestic cricket and A tours. Stephen Cook and Wayne Parnell, who featured in South Africa’s last Test assignment against New Zealand, were dropped. Off spinner Dane Piedt too missed out as South Africa opted for only one specialist spinner in the form of Keshav Maharaj. It has also been learnt that Dean Elgar will captain the side in the warm-up match against England Lions. He will also take up the same responsibility in the first Test at Lord’s, if skipper Faf du Plessis remains unavailable for selection. Du Plessis is awaiting the birth of his first child and it is still uncertain whether he will be able to return to England in time for the series opener. “Heino Kuhn has shown outstanding form for South Africa A on their recent tour of England which included a double century in the four-day match against Hampshire and a further century against the England Lions,” remarked CSA selection convener Linda Zondi. “Andile’s selection is a continuation of our drive to develop bowling all-rounders for the Test team. He and Chris Morris will fill this role in support of Vernon Philander. At the age of 21 he is certainly one for the future,” Zondi added. Senior batsman AB de Villiers has taken an indefinite break from the longest format of the game and will not play in this series. On the other hand, Dale Steyn is still recovering from a shoulder injury and the wait for his comeback continues. South Africa’s tour of England, so far, has been far from impressive. They lost the ODI series 1-2 before producing a lacklustre performance in the 2017 Champions Trophy. And on Sunday, England defeated them at Cardiff to clinch the T20I series 2-1. The first Test begins on 6 July at Lord’s. The other three matches will be played at Trent Bridge, The Oval and Old Trafford respectively. South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (C), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Dean Elgar, Heino Kuhn, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Duanne Olivier, Andile Phehlukwayo, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada.