Ian Bell dropped from England Test squad for South Africa tour

The two sides will play the four-match series from December 26 at Durban.

Johannesburg, Nov.19: England have dropped top-order batsman Ian Bell from a 16-man squad for the upcoming Test series against South Africa. Reflecting on Bell’s exclusion, national selector James Whitaker said that Bell has been struggling for runs in recent series and, therefore, it was a right time for him to take a break and improve on his game, Sport24 reported.(Read: Michael Clarke takes swipe at Aussie team-mates in Ashes Diary 2015)

Meanwhile, batsman Nick Compton and Gary Ballance have been recalled to the England team. Left- arm seamer Mark Footitt and Alex Hales have also been named in the Test squad to faceSouth Africa. The two sides will play the four-match series from December 26 at Durban.

England Test squad:

Alastair Cook (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow , Gary Ballance ,Stuart Broad ,Jos Buttler ,Nick Compton , Mark Footitt ,Alex Hales ,Chris Jordan ,Samit Patel ,Joe Root ,Ben Stokes ,James Taylor ,Chris Woakes.