England fast bowler Brydon Carse, who was stood down from the national team after an incident outside a nightclub in August, has been named in the second-string England Lions squad to tour South Africa next month along with the senior team.
Carse, who has not played for England since January, may return to the senior squad for the first test, with Josh Tongue set to miss the match in Johannesburg next month for the birth of his second child.
“It’s obviously been a challenging time for Brydon… we feel he is in a place where we can introduce him back into an England environment,” national selector Marcus North told Sky Sports on Monday.
“We feel the Lions is the right place for him to come. Come that first test, with Josh Tongue unavailable, that will leave us with 14 players and this is where I feel we are using the Lions tour to our advantage.”
Carse, 31, was last month charged with breaching the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) professional conduct regulations over the incident in Derby. A final decision about his punishment has not yet been announced.
England have handed Nottinghamshire all-rounder Liam Patterson-White his first test call-up for the three-match series against South Africa. Batter Jacob Bethell will hope to play his first test since June after recovering from a knee injury.
“Liam Patterson-White’s selection comes on the back of a strong summer in the County Championship, when he took the most wickets of any spinner in Division One,” North said in a statement.
England will play three one-day internationals and five Twenty20 matches in Australia starting on Friday before flying to South Africa.
England test squad: Joe Root (captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Dan Lawrence, Liam Patterson-White, Ollie Robinson, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue.
