Tom Westley to make England Test debut against South Africa at Oval while Dawid Malan makes squad

A good luck message from Alastair Cook’s four year-old daughter and an emotional conversation with his Dad marked a “humbling” day for Tom Westley on Friday after he was told he will make his Test debut for England against South Africa next week.

Westley will bat at three replacing the injured Gary Ballance, after narrowly edging out Surrey’s Mark Stoneman for a first Test call up.

Middlesex’s Dawid Malan was also named in the 13-man squad but will only play if England decide to pack their batting in the third Investec Test, in which case he would replace Liam Dawson and probably bat at seven.

Westley has his chance due to a broken left index finger Ballance sustained during the second Test when he was bounced by Morne Morkel. Ballance is hopeful of being fit for the fourth Test at Old Trafford but it would be impossible for England to go back to him if Westley has a good game at the Oval and gives the impression of being a no 3 for the long term.

“I had James Whitaker’s (chief selector) number stored on my ‘phone from previous Lions selections, so when I saw it come up I was hoping for good news – but nothing can prepare you until it happens,” said Westley. “There was a long pause on the phone – I think he wondered if I was still there. But I was just trying to take it in. This is why you get into cricket, because you want to play for England. It’s all just snowballed from there really, lots of calls and congratulations. In that respect it’s been a very humbling day.”

Westley started at Mildenhall Cricket Club in Suffolk, the same club as Tymal Mills, and was coached as a youngster by Graham Gooch at his Essex academy, which also produced Cook and Ravi Bopara.

“I owe a lot to so many people, but my dad (Ade) has been the most influential person in my career,” he added. “He was the first person I spoke to after the news came through. He’s a builder, and he’s not known for being very emotional. But he told me he was very proud, and said he might have to nip around the back of the scaffolding to shed a tear – in a monotone way, obviously.

“Cooky called me this morning, just to say congratulations, the usual stuff between team-mates – if he could help in any way, he’d be on the end of a phone. He was in the car with his daughter Elsie actually, so she said congratulations to me as well. I’ve learned so much from Cooky over the years.”

The choice for no 3 was between Westley and Stoneman, and it was a close call. Westley nosed ahead in the selection meeting due to the fact he is a genuine no 3, while Stoneman opens and England wanted as little disruption as possible to their already fragile top order.

Picking Stoneman would have meant either playing him out of position or moving Keaton Jennings to three and England want to give him a solid run in the side as they continue the never-ending search for a regular partner for Cook. The fact Westley is a right hander helped as Stoneman would have continued the run of three lefties at the top that Morkel has enjoyed bowling to, although that was not the deciding factor.

Stoneman, despite this second snub of the season, remains in contention for a Test place this summer, but a spot on the Ashes tour as a back up opener is perhaps more realistic and England will be monitoring how he responds to this latest setback.

Westley has opened for Essex but his breakthrough year came in 2015 when he moved to no 3. He showed a willingness to expand his game earlier that year staying on in Sri Lanka to play club cricket against the turning ball after touring with the England Lions. Five hundreds last season led to Cook wanting him in the Test side when he was captain but the selectors were sceptical of the value second division runs. Two hundreds this season as Essex charged to the top of the championship put him back in contention. A hundred batting at three against South Africa’s Test attack (minus Vernon Philander) for the Lions two weeks ago continued a record of scoring runs against touring teams and was another factor in his favour.

“I appreciate everything in Test cricket is going to be another step up in intensity, but I can take confidence from having faced the majority of their bowlers a few weeks ago and scored some runs,” he added. “But for me the key is going to be replicating what I’ve been doing with Essex.”

England worry about damaging Jonny Bairstow’s confidence by dropping him from five to seven, so if Malan plays he will come in after Ben Stokes at six which would push Moeen Ali down to eight. Trevor Bayliss, the coach, said last week that he believes batting Moeen at eight is “papering over the cracks” and an admission the top order are not up to the job so at the moment there is a very good chance Liam Dawson will keep his place.

England could pick three debutants next week with Toby Roland-Jones retained in the squad, and an alternative to Mark Wood, who looked as if he needed a break during the Trent Bridge Test.

• Squad:  Root Cook Jennings Westley Stokes Bairstow Malan Moeen Dawson Broad Roland-Jones Wood Anderson