Sunday 10 January 2016 06:54, UK
South Africa have named an unchanged 16-man squad for the last two Tests of the four-Test series against England.
AB de Villiers has taken over the captaincy from Hashim Amla, who resigned after the drawn second Test in Cape Town with his side 1-0 down in the series, for the fixtures at the Wanderers in Johannesburg (January 14-18) and Centurion Park in Pretoria (January 22-26).
Fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Kyle Abbott were ruled out of the second Test through shoulder and hamstring injuries respectively, but are hoping to return, with Steyn scheduled to undergo a fitness test on Monday.
Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris came into the side at Newlands and have been retained in the squad, with uncapped Hardus Viljoen taking the seam bowling ranks to six.
JP Duminy and Rilee Rossouw are the additional batting options in the squad.
Duminy was dropped after the first Test, but scored an unbeaten 260 for his province Cape Cobras in a domestic four-day fixture on Friday.
He shared an unbroken 393-run fifth-wicket stand with wicketkeeper-batsman Dane Vilas (216no), who was axed from the Test side after the recent 3-0 series loss in India, against a Highveld Lions team that included Viljoen.
"We were highly encouraged by the performance put up by the Proteas at PPC Newlands," said convenor of selectors Linda Zondi.
"The very fact that they were nearly able to force a win after conceding 600 runs on the first innings speaks volumes for the character of this group of players.
"We feel we have all our bases covered and also the options that will enable the team to exploit whatever conditions they encounter."
The selectors have also named a 14-man squad for the five-match one-day series against England that starts on February 3.
The only change from the squad that won 3-2 in India in October sees spinner Aaron Phangiso drop out, while Rossouw is fit to take his place again after withdrawing from that series due to injury.
The ODI side will also be captained by De Villiers and the squad contains 11 members of the Test squad, augmented by Farhaan Behardien, Imran Tahir and David Miller.
South Africa squad for 3rd and 4th Tests v England: AB de Villiers (c), K Abbott, H Amla, T Bavuma, Q de Kock, JP Duminy, F du Plessis, D Elgar, M Morkel, C Morris, D Piedt, K Rabada, R Rossouw, D Steyn, S van Zyl, H Viljoen.
South Africa squad for one-day international series v England: AB de Villiers (c), K Abbott, H Amla, F Behardien, Q de Kock, JP Duminy, F du Plessis, I Tahir, D Miller, M Morkel, C Morris, K Rabada, R Rossouw, D Steyn.
Watch South Africa v England live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 8am on Thursday.
