Cape Town - The Proteas have decided to back Theunis de Bruyn ahead of uncapped Aiden Markram for the first Test against England at Lord's.

De Bruyn, 24, has only played the one Test match against New Zealand in March, where he opened alongside Dean Elgar.

He didn't have a standout debut in Hamilton, only managing 0 and 12.

However with Heino Kuhn set to be opening with Elgar, De Bruyn will move down the order and slot into skipper Faf du Plessis' place, who is still in South Africa.

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De Bruyn was part of the South Africa 'A' squad that toured England last month and while he didn't have the best tour with the bat, he is still considered next in line for the Proteas.

Proteas coach Russell Domingo confirmed to reporters on Monday that De Bruyn will get the nod ahead of Markram, who was initially called up to the squad to provide batting cover for Du Plessis.



"Theunis played the one Test match in New Zealand, as you know there has been a sense of fairness to the players," said Domingo.

"We haven't really discarded a player after one Test match or two or three innings.

"So at the moment, he will be in the line and should be ahead of a guy like Aiden (Markram) and obviously Heino (Kuhn) comes into the Test opening spot to replace Stephen Cook."

The first Test between England and South Africa gets underway on Thursday (12:00 SA time).