England Stats
England Playing XI: Predicted Lineup and Batting Order
England v South Africa, Thu 17 Dec, 08:00: the last XI stands until the toss confirms one
Updated 9 September 2026, after the Pakistan game
Ben Duckett
Keeper, batted 1
11 16 balls
2
E
Emilio Gay
Batter, batted 2
60 118 balls
3
Jordan Cox
Keeper, batted 3
63 82 balls
4
Joe Root
Batter, batted 4
70 87 balls
5
Harry Brook
Batter, batted 5
75 97 balls
6
Daniel Lawrence
All-rounder, batted 6
65 82 balls
7
Jamie Smith
Keeper, batted 7
69 84 balls
8
Gus Atkinson
All-rounder, batted 8
19 36 balls
9
Ollie Edward Robinson
All-rounder, batted 9
50 47 balls
10
Jofra Archer
Bowler, batted 10
32* 27 balls
11
Josh Tongue
Bowler, batted 11
15 20 balls
12
T
Theo Wylie
Batter
Did not bat
Last Test: England won by 8 wickets, 9 Sep 2026. The scorecard →
England Batting Order
Who batted where over the last 31 Tests, and the runs there
| Position | Inns | Avg | SR | Also |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Zak Crawley | 15 | 70.6 | 79.2 | B. Duckett (9), A. Lees (7) |
| 2Ben Duckett | 15 | 85.5 | 86.5 | Z. Crawley (7), E. Gay (6) |
| 3Ollie Pope | 21 | 78.5 | 72.3 | J. Cox (3), J. Bethell (3) |
| 4Joe Root | 30 | 85.6 | 66.2 | O. Pope (1) |
| 5Harry Brook | 23 | 75.1 | 80.5 | J. Bairstow (7), J. Root (1) |
| 6Ben Stokes | 18 | 63.4 | 62.8 | J. Smith (5), D. Lawrence (3) |
| 7Jamie Smith | 11 | 71.2 | 74.4 | B. Foakes (6), J. Bairstow (4) |
| 8Gus Atkinson | 8 | 36.5 | 54.6 | C. Woakes (8), S. Broad (5) |
| 9Ollie Edward Robinson | 7 | 16.9 | 83.7 | S. Broad (4), M. Potts (4) |
| 10Josh Tongue | 7 | 7.6 | 31.0 | J. Archer (4), J. Leach (4) |
| 11Shoaib Bashir | 10 | 10.2 | 46.4 | J. Anderson (9), J. Tongue (3) |
Inns is how often each batted there. A player who did not bat is left out.
England Selections
Every player England picked in the last 31 Tests, the most first
| Player | XI | Bats | Last |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Root | 31/31 | 4 | XI |
| Harry Brook | 25/31 | 5 | XI |
| Ben Duckett | 24/31 | 2 | XI |
| Ben Stokes | 23/31 | 6 | - |
| Zak Crawley | 22/31 | 1 | - |
| Ollie Pope | 22/31 | 3 | - |
| Jamie Smith | 17/31 | 7 | XI |
| Chris Woakes | 14/31 | 8 | - |
| Gus Atkinson | 13/31 | 8 | XI |
| Stuart Broad | 13/31 | 8 | - |
| Jonny Bairstow | 12/31 | 5 | - |
| Josh Tongue | 12/31 | 10 | XI |
| Shoaib Bashir | 12/31 | 11 | - |
| James Anderson | 11/31 | 11 | - |
| Ollie Edward Robinson | 9/31 | 9 | XI |
| Matty Potts | 9/31 | 9 | - |
| Alex Lees | 7/31 | 1 | - |
| Jofra Archer | 7/31 | 10 | XI |
| Jack Leach | 7/31 | 10 | - |
| Emilio Gay | 6/31 | 2 | XI |
| Daniel Lawrence | 6/31 | 6 | XI |
| Ben Foakes | 6/31 | 7 | - |
| Mark Wood | 6/31 | 9 | - |
| Jordan Cox | 4/31 | 3 | XI |
| Jacob Bethell | 4/31 | 3 | - |
| Moeen Ali | 4/31 | 3 | - |
| Brydon Carse | 4/31 | 9 | - |
| Jamie Overton | 2/31 | 8 | - |
| Sam Billings | 2/31 | 8 | - |
| Olly Stone | 2/31 | 9 | - |
| Samuel Cook | 2/31 | - | - |
| James Rew | 1/31 | 6 | - |
| Liam Dawson | 1/31 | 8 | - |
| Matthew Fisher | 1/31 | 9 | - |
| Josh Hull | 1/31 | 10 | - |
| Sonny Baker | 1/31 | 11 | - |
| Matt Parkinson | 1/31 | 11 | - |
| Theo Wylie | 1/31 | - | XI |
| Harry Singh | 1/31 | - | - |
England Test Lineups Questions
What is England's predicted XI against South Africa?
Until the toss, England's last XI stands as the predicted one, from 9 Sep 2026 against Pakistan: Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Daniel Lawrence, Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson, Ollie Edward Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Theo Wylie.
Who opens the batting for England?
Over the last 31 Tests, Zak Crawley batted at one 15 times and Ben Duckett at two 15 times.
Who bats at three for England?
Ollie Pope, 21 times in the last 31 Tests, then Jordan Cox (3).
Who has played every Test for England recently?
Joe Root played all of England's last 31 Tests.