South Africa star AB de Villiers will make a shock return to the role of wicketkeeper-batsman for the first two Tests of their upcoming series against England, starting on Boxing Day.

De Villiers has kept wickets just 23 times in his 103-Test career and it's a role he's been reluctant to perform in recent years due to a chronic back issue. In fact, Proteas T20 skipper Faf du Plessis said in August that de Villiers would only be considered to take the gloves in T20 cricket for the rest of his career.

But in a 13-man squad for the two opening Tests against England named on Thursday, the Proteas announced that the 31-year-old will take the gloves in the absence of Dane Vilas and Quinton de Kock, who have both been omitted.

De Villiers' return to the role of wicketkeeper allows Temba Bavuma – who opened in the fourth Test against India last week – to return to his regular middle order position, with Dean Elgar and Stiaan van Zyl to resume their opening partnership.

"One of the issues that concerned us during the tour to India was the lack of depth to our batting, particularly in the lower order," said selection convener Linda Zondi.

"And the change in AB’s role means that we can now have a specialist batsman at No.7.

"We now feel that the side has a much better balance about it without in any way reducing the tactical options available to our captain, Hashim Amla."

Vilas and De Kock – who have both kept wickets in Tests this year – will instead look to impress in South Africa A's match against England next weekend.

Their absence means De Villiers will take the gloves in a Test match for the first time since the home series against the West Indies last summer.

De Villiers briefly took over the gloves from De Kock for South Africa's T20 series against New Zealand in August, but Du Plessis said at the time his star teammate's time behind the stumps would be restricted to the 20-over form of the game.

"The only format we will see AB keeping in is T20 cricket. One-day cricket is just too much for him from a captaincy point of view," du Plessis said.

"Also, his body is quite important, we need AB to play for as long as possible.

"It's nice because we've got possibilities there for the T20s and it will only be something until the World Cup, not after that."

The Proteas have swung the axe after their 3-0 series loss to India, with spinners Simon Harmer and Imran Tahir dropped to leave Dane Piedt as the only frontline spinner in the squad.

The absence of Vernon Philander due to injury means Kyle Abbott holds his place in the team as one of four quicks along with Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada. Uncapped batsman Rilee Rossouw has also been named as a reserve batsman.

"The return to South African conditions made it inevitable that we would only choose one specialist spinner with JP Duminy and Elgar both available as back-up and Dane (Piedt) is the man in possession.

"Our batting line-up has served us well in the past in matches under our own conditions and I am confident they will be ready for the challenge in what is going to be a very tough series in which experience will play a vital role."

South Africa squad: Hashim Amla (c), AB de Villiers (vc), Kyle Abbott, Temba Bavuma, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Morne Morkel, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, Stiaan van Zyl.

England squad: Alastair Cook (c), 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