Dawid Malan and Tom Westley earn first call-ups to the England Test squad

Dawid Malan and Tom Westley have earned their first call-ups to the England Test squad for next week’s match against South Africa at The Kia Oval.

After meeting today, the selectors included Malan, the Middlesex batsman, and Essex opener Westley in a 13-man squad. Westley will replace the injured Gary Ballance at No3 while Malan is likely to be included ahead of spinner Liam Dawson in the final XI if England decide an extra batsman is required.

Surrey opener Mark Stoneman had been tipped for inclusion this week but he has missed out, with struggling Keaton Jennings keeping his spot. After England were defeated by 340 runs in the Second Test at Trent Bridge, coach Trevor Bayliss admitted he had never seen Stoneman bat live.

Malan made his England debut in the T20 match against South Africa at Cardiff on June 25, scoring 78. He has a first-class average of 38, with 18 hundreds. Westley, a team-mate of Alastair Cook at Essex, averages 37 in first‑class cricket but has had a fine summer for the Division One leaders, scoring 478 runs at 53.

Mark Wood retained his place in the squad after scans on his bruised heel came back clear. The four-match series is level at 1-1 with two matches to play.

England squad: Root (capt), Cook, Jennings, Westley, Malan, Bairstow (wkt), Stokes, Moeen Ali, Broad, Wood, Anderson, Dawson, Roland-Jones.