Key events
Australia’s bowling attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon is expected to be the same as lined up for the tourists in 2018. The batting, on the other hand, is much harder to nail down – but that hasn’t stopped Geoff Lemon from weighing up the case for and against the main contenders for the final spot or two.
Matt Renshaw has done good things against the white ball, but his preparation to be the country’s new opener in Durban has consisted of one innings against Bangladesh in Mackay. Marnus Labuschagne reassured with a warm-up century, but that game was so relaxed that he might have played in flip-flops. Cameron Green was an issue until two Test innings ago, then having finally produced a performance of note, got injured. That means Beau Webster will be bowling cover, with one of Cooper Connolly or Nic Maddinson to get Green’s job with the bat.
A choice between those two options is truly bizarre.
South Africa’s role in the ignominious 2018 series has largely been pushed into the background even as it should have been a celebrated first Test series victory on home soil against Australia since their readmission to international cricket. Daniel Gallan wonders what the scandal and fallout for Australia meant for the secondary protagonist.
For South African cricketers, administrators and supporters, the most surprising aspect of the Sandpaper scandal was not that it happened. After all, the ball had been suspiciously reverse-swinging during the first two Tests of that ill-fated series in 2018. The atmosphere had turned febrile after a stairwell bust-up between Quinton de Kock and David Warner in Durban and after supporters directed misogynistic abuse at Warner and his family in Gqeberha. Nathan Lyon had promised before the tour to “head-butt the line” of what was acceptable. Darren Lehmann, then Australia’s coach, came from an old school where bullying was sugar-coated with the phrase “mental disintegration”.
No, what surprised South Africans most was the scale of the fallout, and how one tiny piece of sandpaper could cause so much national angst.
Australia’s return to South Africa for a first Test series since 2018 is unlikely to put the ball-tampering scandal to bed. Especially while serious doubts remain over whether the full version of the events in Cape Town has ever been revealed. Geoff Lemon will be covering every day of this series for us. He is as well placed as anyone to look back at what happened at Newlands eight years ago – and what could come out in the future.
The slew of retrospectives has understandably given rise to sandpaper fatigue, audiences tired of hearing about an old story before a new series, while others do historical revisions. Various pundits have suggested that the bans for the players involved were an overreaction, a position that has merit given the prevalence of ball-tampering in the sport, but ignores the press conference in which Smith and Bancroft foolishly lied to cover theirs up. Other observers have argued that whatever the details, the story is so old as to be dead. “What’s left to come out after eight years?” asked Starc this week.
The answer is everything, because nothing ever really has.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the first day of the first Test between South Africa and Australia in Durban. This is a heavyweight clash between the top two teams in the current World Test Championship standings, and the two teams that met in the final of the last cycle little more than 15 months ago. The Proteas defeated the defending champions Australia in that WTC decider at Lord’s last year to claim a rare piece of silverware rid themselves of a choker’s tag. But the buildup to this series has inevitably looked much further back.
More than eight years have passed since Cameron Bancroft reached into his pocket at Newlands, pulled out a piece of sandpaper and exposed the fractures in Australian cricket that had been papered over across decades. That moment and the cover-up that followed led to the young opener and his more experienced batting partner David Warner, along with captain Steve Smith, being banned from playing cricket for as much as 12 months, while the culture reckoning that swept over the national team lasted much longer.
As Australia returns to South Africa for a first Test since the Proteas won that infamous series 3-1, the tourists’ culture has been transformed under captain Pat Cummins. Smith, Cummins and the other pillars of the bowling attack in Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon are back as Australia seek to finally lay the ghosts of 2018 to rest. For South Africa, skipper Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram and Keshav Maharaj return after also playing in the Cape Town clash eight years ago.
There is more on the line in the present day than just reopening – and perhaps healing – old wounds with Australia a couple of steps down the path of a 20-Test journey that will also take in a home series against New Zealand and tours of India and England. A return to a third consecutive WTC final would be a sure sign that stretch has been filled with success as well as going a long way to cementing the legacy of this renewed version of Australia under Cummins’ leadership.
South Africa have built on their triumph in the last WTC cycle with a 2-0 series victory in Zimbabwe, a 1-1 draw in Pakistan and then a historic two-Test series sweep in India last year. But this is the Proteas’ first red-ball international in more than 10 months and their first Test on home soil since January 2025. The two teams started sounding each other out with three ODIs last month. But this long awaited and highly anticipated Test series is undeniably the main event.
Toss and confirmed teams will be coming up shortly – with the first ball to be bowled at 9:30am in Durban / 6:30pm AEDT. In the meantime, get in touch with your thoughts and predictions by email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/oct/09/south-africa-v-australia-first-test-day-one-durban-kingsmead-cricket-ground-live-updates
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