Some defeats you shake off by Wednesday. This one has hung around. Since Tuesday afternoon in Durban, Mzansi has replayed the collapse, picked and dropped a dozen batters over the braai, and wondered whether the world Test champions have a reply in them. Sunday brings the chance to find out, at Dafabet St George’s Park in Gqeberha, in a Test they cannot afford to lose. So this Proteas second Test preview starts with the question every fan is asking: what are the selectors trying to tell us?
The short answer: act, do not wait. One batter out, one in, new hands behind the stumps and their spearhead fit again. Australia, 1-0 up after winning by 214 runs, look content to stand still.
| Quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Match | South Africa v Australia, second Test of three |
| Dates | Sunday 18 to Thursday 22 October 2026 |
| Venue | St George’s Park, Gqeberha |
| First ball | 10:00 SAST |
| Sessions | 10:00 to 12:00, 12:40 to 14:40 and 15:00 to 17:00 SAST |
| Series | Australia lead 1-0 |
| Captains | Temba Bavuma (South Africa), Pat Cummins (Australia) |
| TV in South Africa | SuperSport |
| Next | Third Test, Newlands, Cape Town, 27 to 31 October, 10:30 SAST |
Proteas second Test preview: why Sunday matters
The sums are brutal. A second defeat would hand Australia an unassailable 2-0 lead with Newlands still to come, as Daily Maverick points out. A draw leaves South Africa needing to win in Cape Town just to share the series. Only a win here levels it.
The World Test Championship table adds another layer. Durban dropped South Africa to third on 60.00 percent, behind Australia on 81.82 and New Zealand on 72.22, according to Wisden’s updated standings. Home Tests are where contenders bank points.
Temba Bavuma did not pretend otherwise after Kingsmead. “No one is happy in that change-room,” the captain said. If you missed how it slipped away on the final day, our first Test report from Kingsmead has every wicket.
Breetzke for Stubbs: form gets the nod
Cricket South Africa’s announcement on Thursday 15 October was brief: one change to the squad, with batter Matthew Breetzke replacing Tristan Stubbs. Stubbs made 32 and 1 in Durban.
Breetzke is 27 and has played two Tests, in Bangladesh in 2024 and Zimbabwe in 2025. What changed his case was white-ball form: a century against Australia in the first one-day international of last month’s series. Shukri Conrad was clear about that. “The fact that his ODI form is as hot as it is gave him an inside lane,” the coach said on Thursday, as quoted by TimesLIVE and Daily Maverick. He also spoke about the attitude and character Breetzke brings to the group.
We covered the news in Friday’s Fluit’s Five, and Only in Mzansi Sport captured how loud the debate got.
Our view: the panel is telling its players that current runs count for more than reputation while the series is on the line. One-day hundreds are not Test hundreds, but a batter in rhythm is worth backing.
Rickelton’s gloves and the batting order
The bigger shift is behind the stumps. Ryan Rickelton takes over the wicketkeeping from Kyle Verreynne, who stays in the 17. The gloves go to a player who opened the batting with Aiden Markram in Durban.
Can one player open and keep for five days? Conrad said the panel still had decisions to make on “whether he does move down the order”, or whether Rickelton keeps opening while wearing the gloves, a double role Conrad pointed out has been done before. The coach did not say which way it will go.
Tony de Zorzi was not considered because he is still recovering from a left hamstring injury. Marques Ackerman remains in the group, and ABC News reports that he and Breetzke are expected to come in. Cricket Australia’s own preview projects Breetzke opening with Markram and Rickelton dropping to No 6, but that is a guess, not a team sheet.
Our view: giving Rickelton the gloves looks like a way to fit one more specialist batter in without weakening the attack. If it works, South Africa bat deeper against an attack that gives little away.
Rabada’s return
Then there is KG. Kagiso Rabada is in the squad after sitting out Durban while he recovered from a right hamstring injury, a precaution, Bavuma said. He has not played a competitive match since the IPL in May.
His teammates like what they have seen at training. “It looks like he’s quick again,” David Bedingham said on Friday, describing Rabada as massive for the side. Daily Maverick and ABC both expect him to play, and Cricket Australia’s preview names Anrich Nortje as the bowler most likely to make way. Until the XI is named, though, the word is “expected”.
The ground suits him. In 2018 he took 11 Australian wickets in a Test here, as our One to Watch on Rabada recalls, and his player page has the wider career.
Australia: settled, and probably unchanged
Australia have a squad of 18 and few questions. Pat Cummins kept his options open after Durban. “Give us a few days, we’ll look at the conditions of the next Test,” the captain said, according to the ICC. He added that it would take something “pretty compelling” to move Matt Renshaw, who made 190 and 82 in Durban, from No 5.
Cameron Green missed Durban with an abdominal injury, and coach Andrew McDonald said he was progressing well. Green batted at St George’s Park on Thursday, but AAP reports he is set to miss this Test, with assistant coach Matt Wade saying Australia were “maybe more looking for the third Test”. Josh Inglis, out of Durban with a finger injury, has batted in a centre-wicket net session.
The likeliest outcome, say Cricket Australia’s preview and AAP, is the XI that won in Durban: Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Renshaw, Alex Carey, Beau Webster, Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood. Hazlewood’s 6/49 on the last day at Kingsmead was a Test career best.
Bedingham has a plan for that attack. “It’s just about trying to take them to 80 overs, 100 overs, 120 overs,” he told reporters. “I know they’re machines, but everyone gets tired eventually.”
St George’s Park: an old ground in a new season
Cricket South Africa records that St George’s Park hosted the match generally recognised as the country’s first official Test, on 12 March 1889. Add the brass band and the Duckpond end, and few grounds feel more like home.
Recent history says spin. Cricket Australia’s figures show St George’s Park has been South Africa’s most spin-friendly Test venue since the pandemic, with spinners taking 40 wickets at 22.77 against 35 at 34.17 for the seamers. The same preview adds a twist: this is the first Test played there between mid-April and mid-November, and in first-class cricket between September and November over the past decade, pace bowlers have averaged 26.94 against spin’s 32.05. Nobody knows how an October surface will behave.
The record against this opponent is kind. Australia have won three and lost four of their seven Tests at the ground, and South Africa won the last two meetings there, by 231 runs in 2014 and by six wickets in 2018, Cricket Australia notes.
Then there is the sky. “The forecast isn’t great for day one,” Conrad said on Thursday, and he expects conditions to shape the final XI. We could not find a reliable forecast this morning.
What to watch on day one
- The team sheets. Rabada, Breetzke, Ackerman and where Rickelton bats.
- Rabada’s first spell. His rhythm with the new ball will say more than any press conference.
- The first hour with the bat. Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood with a new ball is the test Durban failed.
- Spin or seam. One spinner or two shows how South Africa read the pitch.
Conrad summed up the mood on Thursday. “We’ve had the opportunity to lick our wounds,” he said, adding that there was no better place to start the fightback than Gqeberha. The selectors have made their moves. From 10:00 on Sunday, the players must make theirs, with a whole country watching from the couch.
Frequently asked questions
When does the second Test between South Africa and Australia start?
The second Test starts on Sunday 18 October 2026 at 10:00 SAST at St George’s Park in Gqeberha. It is scheduled to run until Thursday 22 October, with three two-hour sessions a day.
Who is in the Proteas squad for the second Test?
Cricket South Africa named 17 players on 15 October, with Matthew Breetzke replacing Tristan Stubbs. Ryan Rickelton takes over the wicketkeeping from Kyle Verreynne, who stays in the squad, and Kagiso Rabada is included. Tony de Zorzi was not considered because of a left hamstring injury.
Is Kagiso Rabada playing in the second Test?
Rabada is in the squad after missing the first Test while he recovered from a right hamstring injury. Several reports expect him to return, but the XI had not been named on Saturday morning.
Where can I watch Proteas vs Australia in South Africa?
SuperSport is showing the series in South Africa. Play starts at 10:00 SAST each day in Gqeberha.
What happens if the Proteas lose the second Test?
Australia would lead 2-0 with one Test left, so South Africa could no longer win or share the series. It would also lower their World Test Championship percentage, after Durban left them third on 60.00 percent. The third Test is at Newlands from 27 to 31 October.