James Taylor Picked in England Squad

England have named batsman James Taylor in their squad for the second Test against South Africa which begins at Headingley on Thursday.

Nottinghamshire's Taylor, 22, played in a one-day international against Ireland in 2011 but is uncapped at Test level.

He replaces Ravi Bopara, who is unavailable for personal reasons.

A win for South Africa would clinch the three-Test series and lift them above England to the top of the International Cricket Council rankings. 

Paceman Steven Finn, who was left out of the final XI for the first Test, which England lost by an innings, retains his place in the squad for Headingley, as does fellow seamer Graham Onions, who was ruled out by injury at The Kia Oval.

Finn and Onions must again battle with Tim Bresnan for the third seamer's place, while Taylor - who averages 48 in first-class cricket and has captained the England Lions second-string side, scoring a century against West Indies in May - is likely to make his Test debut at number six if England stick with their regular four-man attack.

National selector Geoff Miller said: "James Taylor has been part of the England Performance Programme for a number of years and has performed consistently for England Lions and now has an opportunity to step up and experience the Test environment.

"We were outplayed last week but it is important that this squad regroups and focuses on preparing for the second Test.

"This is a talented squad with plenty of international experience and they will be determined to improve on the performance during the first Test.

"We have played a lot of good cricket over the last few years and it's important we remember that, learn from the mistakes that we made and retain the belief that we can level this series at Headingley."

Meanwhile, South Africa drew their two-day warm-up game against Worcestershire which finished on Saturday, although opener Alviro Petersen - who made a duck at The Oval - failed to make an impression with the bat again, scoring 10 and 11.

England squad for second Test: Andrew Strauss (Middlesex, capt), Alastair Cook (Essex), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), Matt Prior (Sussex, wk), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Graham Onions (Durham).