England v South Africa – first T20
Venue: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff Date: 10 September Time: 18:30 BST
Coverage: Ball-by-ball radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds. In-play video clips and text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. Highlights on BBC iPlayer and BBC Two each night.
Sam Curran has been recalled to England’s T20 side for the first match of the series against South Africa in Cardiff on Wednesday.
It is the first time the all-rounder will feature under head coach Brendon McCullum, with his last appearance against West Indies in November 2024.
The 27-year-old was a belated call-up to the squad after a sparkling Hundred campaign for winners Oval Invincibles, as he scored 238 runs and took 12 wickets.
England sorely missed a seam bowling all-rounder in the one-day international series won 2-1 by the Proteas, with spinners Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks sharing the duties of the fifth bowler.
Both are included in the XI, with Bethell down to bat at three and Curran at five, although England were flexible with their batting order during the ODIs as the left-hander was sent in with the aim of targeting South Africa’s left-arm spin.
Jamie Overton and Jofra Archer are the other pace bowlers in the side, with leg-spinner Adil Rashid and left-arm spinner Liam Dawson also included.
Opener Phil Salt also returns after he missed the West Indies series at the beginning of the summer for paternity leave.
England XI for first T20: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (capt), Sam Curran, Tom Banton, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.
-
-
16 hours ago
-
England were flat in the first two ODIs – particularly the opening thrashing at Headingley, when they were bowled out for 131 – but responded with a record win in the third at Southampton.
Batters Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith have been rested for this series while a new-look side will be led by Bethell against Ireland at the end of the month, providing players such as Curran with another chance to impress McCullum.
“I sat down with him recently and asked him to bang down the door, to force his way into the top six and with his bowling ability,” McCullum told Sky Sports after the ODI series.
“He is a very attractive resource and it was just a matter of putting in performances to get himself back to where he needed to be.
“He was honest. He said he was determined to have a long international career and fair play to him, he has banged it down.”
Duckett and Smith were among those to play all five Tests against India before going straight to The Hundred and then the ODIs.
England have a white-ball series in New Zealand before the Ashes in November, and face another tight turnaround with the T20 World Cup taking place in India and Sri Lanka in February – although the schedule is yet to be released.
“I can only speak for myself but I obviously don’t play Test cricket so I can just focus on the white-ball side of things, I can go to New Zealand and then have a rest so I’m fresh for that World Cup,” spinner Rashid told BBC Sport about the packed schedule.
“It’s probably going to be a bit of a challenge for the guys [playing all formats] but that’s the schedule.
“Everyone will be up for it, no huffing and puffing or no complaining because we all know that’s part and parcel of cricket. We’ll all be raring to go mentally and physically.”
The first T20 starts at 18:30 BST on Wednesday, with the second match at Old Trafford on Friday and the finale at Trent Bridge on Sunday.
