Gibbs and Langeveldt called up

Veteran opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs has been recalled to South African colours for the second Test match against England. South Africa lost the first Test by 7 wickets and now recall Gibbs and seamer Charl Langeveldt to the 14-man squad for the next two Tests.

Missing out is allrounder Zander de Bruyn, who played in South Africa's last 3 Tests, performing reasonably well.

Gibbs' last Test match appearance was back in August and scored 0 and 4 whilst looking out of sorts against the Sri Lankan seamers. He was since out of cricket with a finger injury. The 30-year-old has played 60 Tests for his country and boasts an impressive record of 4697 runs at an average 48.42, with 13 hundred and 17 fifties. His return will expectedly boost the confidence of a struggling South African side.

Charl Langeveldt has never played a Test match, but has 9 ODI caps. He has impressed in such opportunities thus far, taking 13 wickets at 19.76 and a best of 4/21. His most recent international appearance was in the Champions Trophy. However, he did take 7 wickets in England's warmup game against South Africa 'A'.

Other boosts to South African spirits are the recovery of Jacques Kallis and Nico Boje from injury. Kallis, with healed ankle, may now revise his bowling option and Boje has recovered from surgery to remove his thyroid gland.

South Africa's 14-man Squad:
GC Smith (C)
JH Kallis
N Boje
AB de Villiers
AJ Hall
HH Dippenaar
HM Amla
TL Tsolekile
M Ntini
SM Pollock
JA Rudolph
CK Langeveldt
DW Steyn
HH Gibbs

Posted by Liam