Moeen Ali will be closing in on two personal milestones when England take on South Africa in the first Investec Test match against South Africa at Lord's starting on Thursday,July 6.
The Worcestershire all-rounder needs 73 more runs to reach 2,000 in Test cricket and two more wickets to complete a century of Test victims.
In his 37 appearances, the 30-year-old has scored 1,927 runs at an average of 35.03 with five centuries and eight half centuries.
He has also collected 98 wickets at 42.22 including two five-wicket hauls.
Moeen made his debut at the home of cricket against Sri Lanka in June 2014.
The England selectors have named the following 12-man squad.
Yorkshire’s Joe Root, who was appointed England’s Test captain in February, will lead the team out for the first time on Thursday.
Middlesex seamer Toby Roland-Jones, who made his one-day international debut last month at Lord’s against Ireland, is the only uncapped player in the squad and is in contention to make his England Test debut on his home county ground.
The 29-year-old has taken 22 wickets in the Specsavers County Championship during this campaign.
Durham’s Mark Wood returns to the Test squad for the first time since October 2015.
Jake Ball (right knee) and Chris Woakes (side strain) were not available for selection because of injury.
James Whitaker, the National Selector, said: “There is great excitement around the first Test of the summer and with the start of a new era under the captaincy of Joe Root this is an exciting time for English cricket.
“Toby Roland-Jones is a player we have been monitoring for quite some time and deserves his chance after a strong couple of seasons with Middlesex in red ball cricket. He came close last year when he was named in the Test squad against Pakistan in July.
"Toby has been in good form this campaign and his ability to seam the ball along with the fact that he can score useful runs down the order gives us a number of options.
“Yorkshire’s Gary Ballance could play his first Test since October. He has been in fantastic touch with the bat in the Championship averaging over 100. He deserves to be included and we feel that he will add maturity and experience to our middle-order.
“On behalf of the selectors, I would like to wish Joe Root, Trevor Bayliss and all the squad the very best for what will be a competitive series against South Africa.”
Test squad:
Joe Root (Yorkshire, captain)
Moeen Ali (Worcestershire)
James Anderson (Lancashire)
Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire, wk)
Gary Ballance (Yorkshire)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Alastair Cook (Essex)
Liam Dawson (Hampshire)
Keaton Jennings (Durham)
Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex)
Ben Stokes (Durham)
Mark Wood (Durham)
Investec Test Series Fixtures:
First Investec Test Match, England v South Africa, July 6-10, Lord’s Cricket Ground, London
Second Investec Test Match, England v South Africa, July 14-18, Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Third Investec Test Match, England v South Africa, July 27-31, Kia Oval, London
Fourth Investec Test Match, England v South Africa, August 4-8, Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester.
