South Africa name 16-man squad for Test series vs West Indies

ON July 8, South Africa named a 16-man squad for their two-match Test series versus West Indies which commences at the Queen's Park Oval, Trinidad from August 7.

The team will be skippered by Temba Bavuma, and includes experienced players such as Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada and top-order batsman Aiden Markram, who led South Africa to the final of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty/20 World Cup which concluded in Barbados on June 29. It was the Proteas' maiden appearance in the final of a men's ICC World Cup.

The teams last met in the Test arena last March, with South Africa getting a comfortable 2-0 series win on home soil. South Africa won the first Test by 87 runs in Centurion, before getting a thumping 284-run win in the second Test in Johannesburg, with Markram finishing as the Player of the Series after rattling off 276 runs in four innings.

On their last Test tour of the Caribbean in 2021, the fourth-ranked Proteas had another dominant showing against Kraigg Brathwaite's Windies with a 2-0 series win. Both matches were played at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, Beausejour, St Lucia. In the series, the Windies struggled against the South African attack and failed to reach the 200-run mark in their four innings.

The Proteas will be without the World Cup pair of Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortje, but ace seamer Rabada will be expected to spearhead the attack against the eighth-ranked West Indies.

South Africa coach Shukri Conrad said, "We're looking forward to returning to Test cricket after a busy period of limited-overs cricket over the past few months. "We have therefore selected our strongest possible squad and look forward to strong performances in the Caribbean."

The second Test between the Windies and South Africa will bowl off from August 15 in Guyana.

A 15-man West Indies squad is currently in England for a three-match Test series which bowls off from 6 am on Wednesday at Lord's Cricket Ground, London.

South Africa squad for Test series against West Indies:

Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Matthew Breetzke, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne.