Nortje returns, Rabada misses out in a redemption opportunity for Smith and company
ICC World Test Championship
Australia are currently visiting the place where they faced major humiliation 8 1/2 years ago thanks to Sandpapergate, a ball-tampering scandal which rocked the whole cricketing fraternity. With the series tied at 1-1, Australia were falling behind in the third Test match at Newlands, Cape Town when Cameron Bancroft pulled out a yellow Sandpaper from his pocket and tried to alter the condition of the ball with a plan to force reverse swing. The whole act was caught on camera, leaving the visiting group embarrassed by a proper brainfade moment. Bancroft who carried out the whole scheme was banned for 9 months whereas David Warner the mastermind and the incumbent captain Steve Smith were given a one-year ban. Coach Darren Lehman also lost his job and was succeeded by Justin Langer. Cricket Australia appointed Tim Paine as their next red-ball skipper in the middle of the series. Warner has since made a comeback to the side and retired from International cricket in 2024. Bancroft never appeared on the International stage again. Australia were supposed to visit South Africa in the inaugural World Test Championship but the three-match clash was scrapped due to the arrival of COVID-19. They return to the same land under the leadership of Pat Cummins with Smith still going strong at the age of 37. Australia will be aiming to correct the wrongdoings from the previous visit and strengthen their chances of reaching a third consecutive WTC final.
South Africa started their home summer in a fine fashion by winning the ODI series 2-1 which preceded the Tests. The Proteas won their maiden ICC trophy when they defeated Australia by 5 wickets at Lord’s in the WTC final last year. They are currently sitting at the second position behind their opponents with three wins in four games which they have been part of in this cycle. The Proteas have a busy home summer where they play 8 Tests, 9 ODIs and 3 T20Is against Australia, Bangladesh, and England respectively. They will also be hosting the ICC World Cup 2027 in partnership with Zimbabwe and Namibia. The hosts have gone from strength to strength under the supervision of 36-year old Temba Bavuma, who has not lost a single clash as captain. Both the teams are suffering from fitness issues with South Africa losing at least five players to hamstring injuries. The three contests will be organized at Kingsmead, Durban, St. George’s Park, Gqeberha, and Newlands, Cape Town. The visitors participated in a two-day Warm-Up fixture with CSA invitational XI as preparation for this series.
Labuschagne’s survival despite a wretched run amid numerous laughable selection calls
23 Tests, 43 innings and a period of more than three years since Marnus Labuschagne last scored a hundred for Australia in Test cricket. He has averaged only 24.69 with the bat with 9 half-centuries and a highest of 90 after his 11th century in July 2023. Labuschagne was briefly dropped from the squad on the West Indies tour last year but stormed back with a strong start to the domestic season for Queensland, even though the returns on the International stage haven’t improved at all. A disappointing Ashes was followed by scores of 1, 31 and 4 in the recent Bangladesh series, which saw them lose the opening game to the No. 9 ranked nation at home. It’s almost inexplicable, how Labuschagne has survived in this team for so long with such poor returns. The national selector, George Bailey has made a mockery of Australia’s batting in the longest format with such bewildering decisions.
Once considered as Steve Smith’s long-term successor, Labuschagne now looks like a pale shadow of himself. There are plenty of weakness in his game and he has been dismissed by the opponents in distinct manners, although his inability to spend time at the crease and building a long innings remains a consistency. The 32-year old was dropped from their ODI set-up after a lean run of form scoring merely 350 runs in 16 innings after a 58* in the World Cup victory versus India, three years ago. Labuschagne came into this series with scores of 42 & 60 in the domestic One-Day Cup and reached the triple figure mark in the 2-Day Warm-up game however, there is no clarity on how much time he has before the national selectors actually look in the other direction. The No.3 role is a very crucial one in any batting line-up and it’s unfair on other performers to wait for their chance, especially when the current holder of the spot has been failing continuously.
Marnus Labuschagne hit 116 off 89 deliveries in the Warm up match against CSA Invitational XI
Australia has been protected by the bowlers who have managed to sustain the winning momentum, despite regular failures in the batting department. A tough 8-month period awaits them and if the batting continues to falter, the board and selection committee should provide some serious accountability. Bailey’s consistent disrespect towards Test cricket was further highlighted when he selected Maddison, a player who has not been a part of any First-Class cricket since early 2025 as a replacement for Cam Green. Maddison suffered from testicular cancer and was going through a recovery period last year which saw him skip the Sheffield Shield 2025-26. With a First-Class average of 28.17, Sam Harper is the other new name for the injured Josh Inglis. Both Inglis and Green have been ruled out of the opening contest due to a fractured right index finger and an abdominal strain issue, respectively. To Harper’s credit, he had a solid Sheffield Shield 2025-26 where he was the second highest run-scorer. Young Cooper Connolly’s selection also falls in the questionable category as he is yet to attain his maiden century in the First-Class format, nevertheless his talent is unquestionable. Deserving candidates Peter Handscomb, Jake Lehmann, Kurtis Patterson and Nathan McSweeney continue to be ignored, even though they have accumulated a bulk of runs in both Sheffield and County Championship over the past few years.
Bavuma’s chance to grow his unblemished captaincy record
South Africa’s captain, Temba Bavuma possesses an enchanting quality which has made him one of the world’s most respected leaders. The 36-year old has remained unbeaten in 12 matches so far with 11 victories, the fifth-longest unbeaten start as a skipper in Test cricket. Bavuma undoubtedly holds the highest winning percentage for any captain in the longest format with a minimum of 10 matches in-charge. This record speaks volumes about the leadership of Bavuma, whose place in the side was once questioned due to lack of bigger scores. Not only did he lead South Africa to their maiden WTC victory, he also helped them whitewash the mighty Indian cricket team away from home in what was of one of Bavuma’s toughest assignments.
Bavuma made his debut versus West Indies in 2014 with an average of 35.95 in domestic circuit. A fifty in his third test and a maiden hundred three matches later, justified the selector’s decision but a long run of 48 matches before his second three-digit score, raised plenty of questions around his selection. He came close twice in that period with a couple of 90s and added 19 half-centuries. The wind changed completely when he accepted leadership mantle, hitting a mammoth 172 in only his second match as a skipper. He has since averaged 53.31 with 3 centuries. Bavuma’s ability lead from the front was visible when he battled through pain in the WTC final combined with Aiden Markram for a significant 147-run partnership while chasing a massive target of 282 runs.
There has been some fitness concerns with him lately, which has forced to miss a bunch of matches. Coincidentally, South Africa’s recent defeats in red-ball cricket have always come when Bavuma has been missing from the side. A folk hero among his fellow tribe, Bavuma missed the Zimbabwe series as well as the Pakistan tour last year due to hamstring and calf difficulties. He has also been frequently absent from the ODI set-up and is undergoing a strict workload management routine. The Proteas have a packed calendar which runs until the World Cup in 2027, hosted in the African continent and the management would be hopeful that Bavuma maintains his fitness. His availabilility for the majority of this period is paramount if they want to challenge for both the trophies. A winning run and a successful title defence next year should easily establish him among World’s best leaders in history.
Injuries sour the mood ahead of an exciting series
Kagiso Rabada, the fast bowling spearhead suffered a right hamstring injury during the winter training program last month. Lungi Ngidi was the next in line when he stretched this right hamstring during a domestic First-Class fixture. Ottneil Baartman was ruled out of the preceding ODI series because the same issue whereas youngster Kwena Mphaka was the latest to join this club in a training session before the ODIs. The hamstring epidemic struck again, this time in the form of Tony De Zorzi, who was also ruled out of the First match. Left-arm Fast Nandre Burger is already suffering from lower back issue, which will take some time to recover. The selection committee named an 18-men squad which was supposed to be trimmed down to 15 before the start of this series but they have stuck with the same players for now which includes 6 pace bowlers.
The long list of injuries led to a recall for speedster Anrich Nortje, whose previous outing in the whites was way back in March 2023, which was incidentally his last red-ball appearance. The squad also features 37-year old Dane Paterson, who has been in and around since Shukri Conrad took over although, he has featured in only 7 games so far. Gerald Coetzee also returns after two years. Corbin Bosch, Marco Jansen Hanson, and Wiaan Mulder are the all-round options. In the spin department, Keshav Maharaj has been joined by Player of the Series from their last two tours, Simon Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy. Batting wears a similar look, featuring Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton at the top. In-form David Bedingham, Bavuma, Tristan Stubbs and Kyle Verreynne will form the middle order. Uncapped Marques Ackerman with almost 6000 runs in domestic circuit is also included as a back-up.
Anrich Nortje is in line to play his first Test match since March 2023
Smith is back to forget the ghosts of his past
Steve Smith was the skipper of Australia during the famous Sandpapergate tour in 2018. A stupid decision taken by David Warner and Steve Smith led to both of them being banned from international cricket for a year and stripped of their captaincy rules. The whole event is considered as one of the most humiliating moments for the Aussies and Smith, which led to a change in the playing mentality of the World Champions at the International stage. Smith has since been brought back into the leadership group and has captained the team on 10 occasions when their regular skipper, Pat Cummins has been absent.
Smith hasn’t faced a dip in his form post comeback, having an average of 50.22 in 61 Tests since 2019 as opposed to a staggering 61.37 until that event. At 37, the veteran returns as a mature individual with the whole episode comfortably behind him. With nothing to prove, his whole focus will be on helping the team continue their impressive form. Regarded as one of the modern greats of red-ball cricket, Smith has already communicated that he is non-committal to the Ashes next year in England and is looking at his career on a per-series basis. He has already retired from the ODI format and has a desire to represent his country at the 2028 Olympics having openly admitted this on various platforms, although he is currently not part of their T20 plans.
The experienced batter still holds a crucial role in this lineup from his preferred No.4 position. Australia’s top-three have faltering for a long time now and it is the presence of Smith along with their lower order which has often pulled them back from desperate situations. The whole group will desperately be looking at Australia’s fourth-highest run-scorer in this format to lead the way and come good in this series. Smith averages 44.42 against South Africa, the second lowest after Bangladesh in his career. It will be a battle to savor for both opponents, possessing a red-hot bowling lineup. If the Aussie batting can match their counterparts, we will be in for a hard-fought battle between the top ranked teams in the ICC rankings.
Scheduling lapse leaves both sides in messy waters
South Africa have hosted a Test series in the month of October only thrice in their history, once in 1902 and then 100 years later when they invited Bangladesh for a two-match affair. The same country visited in 2017 when Centurion and Durban were awarded both fixtures. Former Proteas cricketer, Daryll Cullinan has written an excellent piece for Cricinfo, explaining why cricket hosted by South Africa in the month of October can be detrimental. October is deemed as one of them wettest months and we are bound to see multiple rain interruptions. The pitches are also under-prepared due to the lack of warm weather which is in contrast with what happened earlier this year in England, when an unexpected heatwave left the MCC in muddy waters for the opening Test between England and New Zealand. The Lord’s pitch offered extreme uneven bounce from the very first ball. An arduous home season will see the hosts getting tested in varying conditions across the next three months.
The Proteas fans will be targeting Smith for him involvement in the infamous Sandpaper incident on the 2018 visit
The visitors themselves are in the middle of a tight calendar, starting from the Bangladesh series in August. They are scheduled to potentially participate in 19 more Tests till July 2027 which includes three away tours, all in different continents followed by the 50-Over World Cup in October. Such high volume of regular five-day cricket means the management will have to manage their resources quite carefully. The packed schedule will also leave their preferred bowling attack short of practice in 50-over format, case in point being Pat Cummins who has played only 3 ODIs since the title-winning campaign in 2023. If both Cricket Australia and CSA had managed to find a better window for this clash in 2025, such an overload could have been avoided. Australia faced Bangladesh without any match practice under their belt and given that their Sheffield Shield tournament has started this week, it’s a rare occasion that their first-choice squad is playing Test cricket without participating in a First-Class match, a ritual followed every year to get themselves ready for the upcoming home summer.
Kingsmead was traditionally awarded the Boxing Day Test until 2016, when it hosted New Zealand in August, a game where rain permitted only 99.4 overs as the final three days were completely washed out. The Boxing Day mantle has since been passed to Centurion with England being the chosen competitors later this year. Kingsmead is considered as one of the better grounds for batting in the country. It is also the only venue where spinners have a better average with the ball than the fast bowlers and usually dominate when the match is contested at the end of their home summer. Maharaj and Harmer collected 14 wickets between them when the hosts faced Bangladesh at this ground in March 2022. The duo were the only two bowlers used in the fourth innings when Bangladesh folded for just 53 and lost by a margin of 220 runs. Maharaj loves bowling on the wicket and holds an average of 22.66 with 21 wickets in four outings which includes a 9-wicket match haul against the current rivals in March 2018. South Africa’s most recent outing at this venue was against Sri Lanka in November 2024. Marco Jansen took 11 wickets, including 7-13 in the first innings. The home side has already confirmed their final XI with Kagiso Rabada ruled out and the spin duo of Maharaj and Harmer included given the performance in the first ODI where Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin had combined figures of 6-54 in 17.2 overs. Anrich Nortje makes a comeback and will be partnered by Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder. Australia will reveal their line-up at the toss tomorrow morning. It’s supposed to be cloudy on Day 2 and 3 but rain is expected to stay away with the temperature reaching a maximum of 28°C.
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