Spin, a hamstring and a riddle at No 3: the Proteas’ Kingsmead puzzle

Durban in October was supposed to belong to the fast men. Instead, on the eve of the SA v Australia first Test, the chatter at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium is about turn, drift and a dry square. The world champions start their first home Test summer since Lord’s against the very side they beat there, and they could walk out with two spinners, an uncapped batter in the top order and, if a hamstring allows it, their best fast bowler. Some of those answers may only arrive on Friday morning.

Why the SA v Australia first Test matters

Start with the table, because that is where this series will be judged. The Proteas beat Australia by five wickets in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in 2025, and this is the first Test between the two finalists since. If you need a refresher on how points and percentages decide who reaches the next final, our guide to how the World Test Championship works has it. The short version: every Test in the 2025-27 cycle counts, and home Tests are the ones a contender is expected to win.

South Africa arrive in good shape. Their last Test series was a 2-0 win in India in November 2025. Australia arrive with history on their side in Durban. They have won their last three Tests at Kingsmead, going back to 2006, and South Africa’s last Test win over Australia at this ground came in 2002, by five wickets. Twenty-four years is a long time to wait for anything. For a home ground, it is an eternity.

The Rabada call: Friday morning, not before

The biggest name in the Proteas dressing room is also the biggest unknown. Kagiso Rabada hurt his right hamstring in training in August and has not played competitive cricket since the IPL in May. He came through the two-day intra-squad match at the Chatsworth Oval on Sunday and Monday, and the team has said all week that it will make the call as late as it can. Wednesday’s session was less encouraging, according to Australian Associated Press: Rabada managed light drills and a cut-down run-up, and the agency rates a return in Durban as unlikely.

Captain Temba Bavuma said on Tuesday that Rabada was still in the hands of the medics. “He’s still under the auspices or care of the medical team. They would need to ordinarily hand him over,” Bavuma told IOL, which reported that a decision on his match readiness would be made on Friday morning.

Why does one player matter so much? Because the fast-bowling cupboard is thinner than it should be. Lungi Ngidi misses this Test with a hamstring injury, and Ottneil Baartman and Kwena Maphaka are nursing hamstring problems of their own. Anrich Nortje could play his first Test since March 2023. Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Corbin Bosch, Dane Paterson and Wiaan Mulder offer pace and variety, but none of them is Rabada against Australia. We looked at what his record against this opponent does and does not tell you in What the Stats Don’t Tell You on Wednesday.

Two spinners: Maharaj and Harmer together?

Here is the twist that makes this Test unusual. The Proteas are seriously considering playing both Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer, according to TimesLIVE. In Durban. In October.

The thinking did not come from nowhere. In the first ODI here on 24 September, Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin spun Australia out, and the Proteas’ think tank took note. Harmer, now 37, took 17 wickets in two Tests in India last year and was Player of the Series. He knows what this coast can offer. “Traditionally the coastal wickets do offer more to the spinners,” he said this week.

He has already thought about who bowls to whom. If the pitch plays true, he expects Maharaj to be the bigger threat to the left-handers and himself to the right-handers. But without Cameron Green, Australia could field four left-handers in their top seven, and an off-spinner’s stock ball turns away from the left-hander’s bat, so any turn from a straight line brings him into the contest. “I hope it turns from straight, and if it does, then I really want to be able to put my hand up and break partnerships,” Harmer said.

Batting coach Ashwell Prince was careful not to commit to a plan before seeing the surface. A seam-heavy attack remains an option if the pitch looks good for it, and Prince saw the choice as a strength rather than a headache. “I think that’s a blessing that we have options,” he said.

The pitch: dust bowl or fair contest?

TimesLIVE’s Stuart Hess described the Kingsmead square as a dust bowl, and Australia’s chief selector, George Bailey, told cricket.com.au he expects reasonable turn across the five days. The recent evidence is more mixed than the mood. In the two Tests at Kingsmead since the pandemic, pace bowlers took 46 wickets at 22.51 and spinners 26 at 27.11, according to cricket.com.au. That is the case for keeping three quicks and one spinner.

So which way should the Proteas go? The honest answer is that it depends on two things nobody outside the dressing room will know until Friday: how the surface looks after another day in the sun, and whether Rabada is cleared. A fit Rabada would let the Proteas play three quicks and possibly both frontline spinners, TimesLIVE reported. With so many local fast bowlers nursing hamstrings, leaning on spin makes sense either way.

No 3: a door left open for Ackerman

The batting order has its own puzzle. The Herald listed the contenders for No 3 as David Bedingham, Wiaan Mulder, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and the uncapped Marques Ackerman, and Prince said the names discussed were all options. He would not name the frontrunner, but he did say the selectors were further along than the debate suggests. “We have a very good idea on who’s the one there,” Prince said.

The field narrowed when Tony de Zorzi was ruled out of this Test with a mild left hamstring injury, with no replacement called up. That opened a path for Ackerman, the 30-year-old Dolphins captain, who IOL reported could step straight into the No 3 slot. His case is built on volume: more than 1,000 runs at an average of 82.92 in his last 10 red-ball games for South Africa A, with four centuries. He was due to learn on Thursday evening whether he will make his debut.

Australia: no Green, and a spin question of their own

The visitors have their own holes to fill. Cameron Green is out of the first Test with an abdominal strain and will stay in South Africa in the hope of playing later in the series. Josh Inglis broke a finger and also misses Durban, which brought call-ups for the wicketkeeper Sam Harper and the left-handed batter Nic Maddinson, who is 34 and played the last of his three Tests in 2016.

Coach Andrew McDonald expects Travis Head to open, most likely alongside Matt Renshaw. Pat Cummins leads an attack that cricket.com.au expects to feature Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood with him. The big call is spin. Nathan Lyon, 38, is expected to start and is in cricket.com.au’s projected XI. Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann is the option, and McDonald said it would have to be “quite compelling” for Australia to play both. Their decision will probably come on Thursday, but it could wait until Friday morning before the toss.

Then there is Steve Smith, the batter Harmer named as the one to plan for. “He is one of the world’s best Test batters and extremely good against spin,” Harmer said. Smith has retired from ODIs, so the Proteas spinners did not face him in the white-ball series.

What to watch on day one

• The team sheet. Rabada in or out, one spinner or two, and who walks out at No 3.
• The toss. On a surface expected to turn later, batting first could carry extra weight.
• Smith against spin. Australia’s batting leans heavily on him and Head. Early wickets for Maharaj or Harmer would change the mood fast.
• The first hour. If the new ball does little, the spin plan will be judged before lunch.

Frequently asked questions

When does the SA v Australia first Test start?

The first Test starts on Friday 9 October 2026 at Kingsmead in Durban, with the first ball at 09:30 SAST. It is scheduled to run until Tuesday 13 October. It is the first of three Tests in the series.

Is Kagiso Rabada playing in the first Test against Australia?

No decision had been announced when this preview was written. Rabada has been recovering from a hamstring injury and came through a two-day intra-squad match, and IOL reported that a decision on his readiness would be made on Friday morning.

Will the Proteas play Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer together?

The Proteas are seriously considering it, according to TimesLIVE. Batting coach Ashwell Prince said the final balance would depend on the Kingsmead surface. Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin spun Australia out at the same ground in the first ODI on 24 September.

Why is Cameron Green missing the first Test?

Green has an abdominal strain and is out of the opening Test. He is staying in South Africa in the hope of playing later in the series. Australia are also without Josh Inglis, who broke a finger.

Where are the second and third Tests?

The second Test is in Gqeberha from Sunday 18 October and the third is in Cape Town from Tuesday 27 October. All three Tests count towards the 2025-27 World Test Championship.