Ravi Bopara is set to return to the Test side after being named in the England squard to face South Africa at The Oval. Photograph: Philip Brown / Reuters/Reuters
Ravi Bopara is set to play in his first Test match for almost a year after being named in England's squad to face South Africa at The Oval on Thursday.
Bopara is one of the six batsmen in a 13-man squad which also includes Steve Finn and Graham Onions, who can still hope to oust Tim Bresnan as the third seamer.
It was last August, at the same venue, that Bopara won his 12th Test cap ? when Jonathan Trott was injured ? for the innings victory over India which completed a 4-0 series whitewash.
Following Eoin Morgan's loss of form last winter, the Essex batsman seemed certain to return at the start of this summer only to injure a thigh playing for his county the day before the squad was announced for the first Test against the West Indies at Lord's.
Jonny Bairstow was therefore chosen to make his debut but the young Yorkshireman did not do enough in that 2-0 series win to retain his place for the first of three matches against South Africa which start on Thursday and will decide who tops the International Cricket Council rankings at the end of this summer.
The national selector Geoff Miller noted the 27-year-old Bopara's hard work to push himself back into the Test reckoning for such a high-profile match.
"We have played some very good cricket over the last couple of months in all formats to win series against the West Indies and Australia ? and after a month of limited-overs cricket, preparations are now under way for what is sure to be a very competitive Test series against South Africa.
"We know we will need to play excellent cricket to win this three-match series, and the squad will be determined to start with a strong performance this week during the first Test and set the tone for the rest of the series.
"Ravi Bopara has worked hard to regain his place in the Test squad, following some injury concerns earlier in the season, and is the only player included who is yet to play a Test match this summer."
England have kept their options open among the bowlers by including Finn and Onions ? both involved in the most recent Test, a rain-ravaged draw at Edgbaston last month for which James Anderson and Stuart Broad were rested.
With those two first-choice fast bowlers back, the only decision remaining for the coach Andy Flower and the captain Andrew Strauss ? given England's long-held policy of a four-man attack ? is to pick between Bresnan, Finn and Onions to complete the team.
Concerns over the fitness of Bresnan and the off-spinner Graeme Swann, both nursing sore bowling elbows and therefore missing the final stages of England's ODI series win over Australia, appear to be unfounded.
Miller admitted he wanted to see a big performance from Bopara against the South Africans. He told Radio 5 Live: "We always hope for something big from all our players when we select them in the England side and over the last few years they've produced on most occasions.
"Yes, we would like to see something big from him, but he's only part of the side so he needs to actually perform to cement his place."
Miller added: "Jonny Bairstow obviously had a bit of a tough time, we know he's a young and a talented cricketer, that goes without saying, so he just needs to go back to Yorkshire and score some big runs and fight for his place back again."
AJ Strauss (Middlesex, captain), JM Anderson (Lancashire), IR Bell (Warwickshire), RS Bopara (Essex), TT Bresnan (Yorkshire), SCJ Broad (Nottinghamshire), AN Cook (Essex) ST Finn (Middlesex), G Onions (Durham), KP Pietersen (Surrey), MJ Prior (Sussex, wkt), GP Swann (Nottinghamshire), IJL Trott (Warwickshire)
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/15/england-ravi-bopara-south-africa
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