Wood out, Roland-Jones to make Test debut against Proteas

Toby Roland-Jones will bolster the England pace attack against South Africa at The Oval. Photo: Reuters

Toby Roland-Jones will bolster the England pace attack against South Africa at The Oval. Photo: Reuters

Published Jul 26, 2017

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LONDON – Middlesex paceman Toby Roland-Jones will make his England Test debut against South Africa on Thursday after Mark Wood was ruled out with injury, captain Joe Root said on Wednesday.

Durham fast bowler Wood missed Wednesday’s final training session for the third Test with an ongoing heel problem that had troubled him in England’s 340-run defeat by South Africa in the second Test, a result that saw the Proteas level the four-match series at 1-1.

“Wood is not 100 percent fit, so he’s going to miss out this week and Toby Roland-Jones comes in for a debut,” Root told a press conference ahead of clash at The Oval.

Roland-Jones’ Middlesex colleague Steven Finn, a veteran of 36 Tests, has been called up as a standby in the event of any further injuries to England’s pace attack.

. @root66 has confirmed that @tobyrj21 will make his Test debut tomorrow coming in for @MAWood33, who is not 100% fit #ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/M5kKwfFsNG

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 26, 2017

England will now field at least two debutants in what will be the 100th Test ever staged at The Oval, with Essex batsman Tom Westley previously selected in place of injured No 3 Gary Ballance.

Teams At The Oval

England (from):

Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Tom Westley, Joe Root (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Liam Dawson, Stuart Broad, Toby Roland-Jones, James Anderson, Dawid Malan.

South Africa (likely):

Heino Kuhn, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis (captain), Temba Bavuma, Vernon Philander, Chris Morris, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morné Morkel.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan), Joel Wilson (West Indies).

TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka).

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

AFP

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