Some cricketers get tapped on the shoulder at 21. Others have to lean on the door until the hinges give. For years the Marques Ackerman Proteas question had only one answer he could control: keep scoring. So he did. In Durban, in Pretoria, at Newlands and under the castle at Arundel in England. Now, at 30 and still uncapped, the Dolphins captain sits in the squad for the first Test of a home series against Australia, and the first Test is on his own ground. Whether he walks out on Friday or later, this is his series to watch.
Who he is
Marques Jannie Ackerman was born in Johannesburg on 1 March 1996, according to his ESPNcricinfo profile. He is a left-handed middle-order batter who made his name with the Dolphins in KwaZulu-Natal. The franchise named him permanent four-day captain in September 2020, the Daily Dispatch reported at the time, after he had led them on an interim basis earlier that year, with Keshav Maharaj handed the white-ball job. This year he has also captained South Africa A on red-ball duty, in England in May and against Bangladesh A in August.
He knows the system from the inside. Speaking to IOL this week, he said he had come through every stage of the South African pathway and joined the National Academy in 2016 or 2017, when its coach was a certain Shukri Conrad. Nearly a decade on, Conrad runs the Test side, and his selection panel finally made the call.
Why now: the Marques Ackerman Proteas case
IOL reports that he topped the domestic first-class run charts in 2023/24. The ICC puts his last 10 red-ball appearances for South Africa A at more than 1,000 runs, averaging 82.92, with four hundreds.
Two of those innings did most of the talking. At Arundel in May, with South Africa A 54 for 5 against England Lions, he made 173 off 136 balls with 25 fours and five sixes, batting at No 5 and leading the side, according to the Sky Sports scorecard and SA Cricket Magazine. South Africa A won by eight wickets. In August at Tuks Oval he went bigger: 256 against Bangladesh A, his career best, in a win by an innings and 413 runs.
South Africa’s selectors named him in an 18-man preliminary squad on 28 September. Cricket South Africa described him as the only uncapped player in the squad, and Conrad credited both his leadership of the A side and his batting for the call. Two days later TimesLIVE reported Conrad’s view that Ackerman had been knocking the door down.
Then there is the vacancy. South Africa have used five different No 3s in Conrad’s 21 Tests, TimesLIVE counted. IOL reports that Ackerman could step straight into that slot at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead. Cricket Australia’s own match preview left him out of its possible XI, listing him in the running for a middle-order place and noting that he bats at No 4 for the Dolphins. Nobody outside the selection room knows yet.
Strengths and style
Ashwell Prince, the Proteas batting coach, has seen enough. Speaking to reporters before the Test, as IOL reported on Wednesday, Prince said he has always rated Ackerman, that he picked him for a domestic T20 side years ago before the SA20 came along, and that the call-up was earned through consistent domestic runs. He described him as an attacking batter who likes to push the game forward. Prince, who made his own Test debut against Australia in 2002, also argued that meeting the best attack early can settle a young Test career. Our first Test preview has more from the coaching staff on the No 3 debate.
The Arundel hundred came at better than a run a ball, from 54 for 5, a position that usually calls for digging in. In the four-day game at Newlands in September he made 107 off 88 balls against Western Province, TimesLIVE reported, then 60 off 62 in the chase. After he fell in that chase, the Dolphins began to wobble, then lost four wickets for 20 runs, and Western Province won by 44, as TimesLIVE described.
That is the trade-off with a counter-puncher. He shifts momentum quickly, and when he goes, the innings can wobble. At No 3 against a new ball, that would be tested from the first session. It is also exactly why the idea appeals: an uncapped left-hander who takes the fight to the bowlers hands Australia a problem they have not had time to plan for.
What to watch next
Durban gets the first look. Five days of Test cricket begin at Kingsmead on Friday and can stretch to Tuesday 13 October, and IOL reports that Ackerman may hear on Thursday evening whether he is in the XI. The calls around him, from the spin pairing to the late decision on Kagiso Rabada’s fitness, will decide where captain Temba Bavuma needs his batters.
If he does not play in Durban, the series still has room for him. Gqeberha hosts the second Test, with St George’s Park starting on Sunday 18 October, before the series closes at Newlands from Tuesday 27 October. All three count towards the World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle, so a batter who can turn a session matters in every one. For how the one-day games against the same opponents set up this Test summer, read our Beyond the Score on the ODI series.
Some debuts arrive as a reward. This one, whenever it comes, would land more like an overdue receipt. Nearly ten years from the academy to a Test squad, more than a thousand A-team runs in ten matches, and a home ground that knows his game better than anyone. Keep an eye on the Dolphins’ left-hander.