South Africa vs Australia Test Preview: Eight Years After Sandpapergate

South Africa vs Australia begins at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday, 9 October 2026, with the first ball scheduled for 09:30 SAST. Eight years after a tour remembered for confrontations and sandpaper, Australia are back for their first Test series on South African soil since 2018.

The setting carries memories of its own. Kingsmead was where David Warner and Quinton de Kock’s dressing-room altercation became public. This series will finish at Newlands, where Cameron Bancroft was caught tampering with the ball. In between, there is a serious cricket contest: the reigning World Test Championship winners against the side they beat at Lord’s.

Series Dates and the First Test

After this week’s SA20 auction, attention turns from franchise squads to a three-Test contest with World Test Championship points at stake. Cricket Australia’s official series guide confirms the following schedule. All start times are SAST.

South African viewers can follow the opener on SuperSport. This is the first Test series between these teams in South Africa since Sandpapergate, rather than their first Test meeting since the scandal. The Proteas toured Australia in 2022/23, and the teams met again in the 2025 World Test Championship final. A planned Australian Test tour here in 2021 was cancelled during the Covid pandemic.

Rabada Out and Spin in Focus at Kingsmead

South Africa have announced their XI, while Australia have left their final selection until the toss. The home side’s decision to use two specialist spinners gives this opener a different shape from a straightforward battle between fast-bowling attacks.

South Africa’s Confirmed XI

Rabada will miss the first Test as he continues recovering from a right hamstring injury. Temba Bavuma said South Africa had taken a conservative approach, with a return in Gqeberha dependent on medical clearance.

Anrich Nortje returns for his first Test since March 2023, joining Marco Jansen in the pace attack, with Wiaan Mulder offering another seam option. Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer both play. Bavuma’s side is confirmed in the official first-Test team announcement:

Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, David Bedingham, Temba Bavuma (captain), Tristan Stubbs, Wiaan Mulder, Kyle Verreynne (wicketkeeper), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer and Anrich Nortje.

Australia’s Selection Calls

Cameron Green’s abdominal injury has ruled him out of the opener. Josh Inglis is expected to rejoin the group for the second Test after breaking a finger, with Sam Harper and Nic Maddinson added to the touring party.

Pat Cummins has kept open the possibility of pairing Matthew Kuhnemann with Nathan Lyon. That decision could tell us plenty about Australia’s reading of the surface. Smith, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne remain central to the batting contest, but Australia’s confirmed XI is still pending the toss.

The 2018 Series Was Heated Before the Sandpaper

The 2018 series was hostile well before Newlands. Two earlier incidents connect today’s venues and players to the tension of that tour.

The Stairwell and Rabada’s Appeal

The Kingsmead CCTV footage showed Warner being restrained by teammates as his exchange with de Kock carried into the dressing-room stairwell. Warner later said a remark about his wife had triggered his response. South Africa’s team manager, Mohammed Moosajee, said Warner’s earlier sledging of de Kock had also been personal.

The ICC fined Warner 75% of his match fee and de Kock 25%. Both were punished for bringing the game into disrepute.

The next Test in Port Elizabeth brought another flashpoint when Rabada made contact with Smith after dismissing him. Rabada initially received a two-Test suspension, but an appeal cleared him of deliberate physical contact. He was found guilty of a lesser offence, fined 25% of his match fee and cleared to continue playing.

Newlands and the Fallout

During the third Test at Newlands, cameras caught Bancroft using sandpaper on the ball. Cricket Australia’s investigation found that Warner devised the plan, Bancroft carried it out and Smith knew about it but failed to stop it.

Smith and Warner received one-year bans from international and Australian domestic cricket. Bancroft was banned for nine months. A contest that had already become bitter was suddenly an international scandal, with Australia’s captain and vice-captain sent home.

South Africa’s cricket deserves its place in that memory too. The Proteas won the series 3-1, finishing with a 492-run victory in Johannesburg. The scandal should not erase the achievement of beating Australia so comprehensively.

Which Players Are Back From 2018?

Smith is the only member of the sanctioned trio in the current touring squad. Warner retired from Tests in January 2024, while Bancroft has not been selected. De Kock retired from Test cricket in December 2021, so there will be no repeat of that particular head-to-head.

Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Lyon are all back. Those four bowlers played at Newlands in 2018 and later issued a joint statement denying prior knowledge of the tampering plan. Matthew Renshaw is another returning tourist, although he joined the 2018 squad after the bans.

Markram, Bavuma and Maharaj also link today’s South African XI to that era. Rabada remains part of the wider squad, although his absence from Durban is a significant change to the bowling contest.

From Newlands to the Lord’s Triumph

South Africa now have a more recent Australian memory to draw on. Their five-wicket win in the 2025 World Test Championship final featured Markram’s 136, Bavuma’s 66 and nine wickets for Rabada across the match.

That gives Markram’s contest with Australia’s experienced attack added interest, while Bavuma leads a team with proof that it can finish the job against these opponents under pressure. Rabada’s absence means Jansen and Nortje must help create the chances he supplied at Lord’s.

Jansen has spoken about being caught off guard on his first Australian tour in 2022. “Whereas now I know what to expect,” he told cricket.com.au ahead of this series.

The Betting Read

We would put the bowling combinations and first-innings batting ahead of the nostalgia when assessing Durban. South Africa’s two spinners offer a route to sustained pressure if the surface turns, but Jansen and Nortje still need to make the new ball count. Australia’s decision on a second spinner will help show how strongly they expect the pitch to favour turn.

Markram’s Lord’s century makes his innings worth watching, while Smith’s experience gives the visitors a way to steady theirs. The price still needs to justify the choice. Our cricket betting guide explains the main markets, and our sports betting guide covers reading decimal odds and comparing prices.

With Rabada missing and spin in focus, the first innings could quickly change how this series is assessed. Kingsmead supplies the opening contest at 09:30 on Friday, before the tour moves along the coast and eventually back to Newlands.

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