Unusually considering the general direction of the dynamic between players and reporters, Kagiso Rabada had a question for the press at Kingsmead on Thursday: “What’s happening?” He leaned on the boundary boards as he spoke, gleaming a smile at the huddle of journos who had gathered in Durban’s bright sunshine with one thought in mind – the state of his right hamstring, which he injured last month. Had it healed well enough for him to be part of the first Test against Australia, which starts on Friday? The reporters had spent the past several days asking any South Africa player or coach they could find exactly that. And here was Rabada himself doing the asking, and not about his hamstring. He had spent the past several minutes of a training session sprinting short distances on the outfield, which had left him lightly wreathed in sweat. “We’re all good,” one of the reporters replied, adding, “How’s yourself?” “Getting there,” Rabada said, before turning to take the stairs to the dressing room with a breezy, “What a lovely day …” It was. As Friday is forecast to be. Would Rabada be out there indulging in its loveliness? Or confined to a bib? Temba Bavuma answered the question just more than an hour later. “Do you have an XI,” Bavuma was asked at his press conference. Indeed, he replied, he did. With that he recited the players’ names. Rabada’s was not among them. Anrich Nortjé had emerged, barefoot, carrying his shoes in his hand, into the sunshine for training earlier than Rabada. After doing what he had come to do at the optional session, Nortjé loped back up the stairs. But not before also stopping for a word with the journos. “How are the [five-month-old] twins,” he was asked. “Fine. Getting big.” Nortjé owns among the most foreboding moustaches in all of cricket. It’s so prominent that he is sometimes called Snortjé; snor is the Afrikaans word for moustache. His snor caterpillared outward above a broad smile as he loped the stairs in unhamstrung strides. Well he might have. Because Nortjé would have known by then that he was in the XI – the first time he has been included in a red-ball side for more than three-and-a-half years. During that time he didn’t bowl more than eight overs in any of the 104 matches he played. He will be counted on for far more than that in this game. But by the look of Rabada in training on Wednesday and Thursday, South Africa’s spearhead doesn’t seem up to sending down eight overs at anything like his usual impeccable standard. While the South Africa focus is on those two fast bowlers, and the selection of both Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer, the Australian narrative is centred on them playing away Test series against South Africa, India and England in the next 12 months. And that with a squad, currently numbering 16, in which eight are 35 or older. Nathan Lyon is 44 days away from turning 39. How the cultures of South Africa and Australia had improved since the tumultuous 2018 Sandpapergate series in this country came up, inevitably, at Pat Cummins’ press conference. As did the expectation that Usman Khawaja’s autobiography, which is to be published on November 3, might include previously unaired dirty laundry from that sorry saga. Cricket and the personalities in the teams who play it, even at this intense, often febrile level, has changed since then. That is no bad thing, and it shone out from the viscerally competitive but utterly respectful atmosphere that prevailed the last time these teams met in a Test. That was at Lord’s in June last year, when South Africa won the WTC final by five wickets. Previous generations of South Africans wouldn’t have wanted to hear this, but it’s true – Australians were central to that triumph. That’s how sport works: for every team of winners there are losers, who are no less a part of the contest. When: Friday, October 9 to 13, 2026; 9.30am local/7.30am GMT/1pm IST Where: Kingsmead, Durban What to expect: Warm, sunny days with a chance of rain on Saturday. A slowish pitch that will take turn as the match wears on. Team news: South Africa Kagiso Rabada’s omission deals the home side’s chances a major blow. Simon Harmer’s inclusion alongside Keshav Maharaj reflects how much Kingsmead has changed over the years. Confirmed XI: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, David Bedingham, Temba Bavuma (c), Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortjé. Australia Cameron Green, who already had a shoulder problem, is out with an abdominal injury he suffered while batting during the third ODI in Potchefstroom on September 30. That might mean a hike up the order for Beau Webster. Josh Inglis’ broken finger, sustained in the first ODI at Kingsmead on September 24 takes the pressure for a place in the side off Alex Carey, who hasn’t reached 50 in six completed innings. Possible XI: Travis Head, Matt Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Beau Webster, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood. What they said: “It wasn’t an easy decision. We went the conservative route to give him a couple of extra days to get as close as he can be to 100% fitness.” – Temba Bavuma on having to do without Kagiso Rabada. “It was pretty full on. After that pretty much every Test team in the world felt like they had to make some adjustments. This is a different group in how we approach playing.” – Pat Cummins on 2018 and all that.
