Dom Bess and Craig Overton called up as illness hits England squad

The pair have been enlisted as cover with Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad and Jack Leach all suffering with flu-type symptoms

England have been forced to call-up Dom Bess and Craig Overton ahead of the Boxing Day Test against South Africa due to an illness that has decimated the camp.

Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad and Jack Leach are all suffering with flu-like symptoms ahead of the first match of the series, which starts next week.

As a result, the final warm-up match against South Africa A has been downgraded to a three-day friendly tour game, with only 11 players batting or fielding at any one time.

"ECB would like to take this opportunity to thank CSA for their flexibility on this situation and to emphasise that under normal circumstances we would have wanted to play the match first-class, but illness in the camp has made this very problematic," a statement read.

Bess, who took 19 first class wickets for Somerset last season, has not played Test cricket since June 2018 against Pakistan. Across his only two outings, he took three wickets and scored 111 runs.

Fellow Taunton teammate Overton meanwhile has four England appearances to his name and played as recently as the fourth Ashes Test against Australia at Old Trafford. The 25-year-old finished with 37 Championship wickets last term.

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