Australia, Proteas ready for Test rematch

Oliver Caffrey and Joel Gould | December 16, 2022

Pat Cummins is adamant Australia will not retaliate to any verbal barrages that come their way when they face South Africa for the first time in a Test since the ball-tampering saga.

The star fast bowler will return from a quad injury to captain Australia in the eagerly-anticipated showdown at the Gabba, which is nearing a sell-out for day one on Saturday.

It will be the first red-ball match between the fierce rivals since Australia’s ill-fated tour of South Africa in 2018.

That series was spiteful even before the infamous Cape Town Test, with David Warner and Quinton de Kock’s stairwell clash causing significant tensions from the outset.

Star Proteas quick Kagiso Rabada was given a two-match ban after the second Test, then dramatically cleared of making shoulder contract with Steve Smith.

But the series will be forever remembered for what happened at Newlands, with sandpaper-gate scandal still looming large almost five years on.

Cummins believes the Australian team is less “abrasive” than in the past and the recent behaviour of the team spoke for itself.

“We’re really strong on who we are as a team, how we want to go about it,” he said.

“The last 12 months have been a great example on that. 

“We’re pretty firm on how we want to act and conduct ourselves.

“Whatever gets thrown at us, won’t change that.”

South Africa captain Dean Elgar hoped the three-Test series would be played in “good spirit”.

“The history and tradition of South African and Australian cricket is so rich,” Elgar said.

“There will be moments no doubt where there are going to be feisty encounters. 

“Hopefully it doesn’t reach a stage that we experienced in 2018.”

The Proteas, who saluted 3-1 in 2018, have had even more of a makeover than Australia since the last series.

Prolific legends Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis have retired, leaving Australia to deal with a South African batting line-up even Cummins is unfamiliar with.

But the new-look Proteas can take confidence in knowing they have been successful on the last three Test tours of Australia.

None of the current Australian XI were even close to appearing at international level when Ricky Ponting’s team defeated South Africa 2-0 in 2005-06.

The Gabba traditionally has one of the more pace-friendly pitches in world cricket and curators have once again produced a track full of grass coverage.

The sight of a potential green monster will excite both bowling attacks, with some of Test cricket’s top pacemen set to feature.

Cummins replaces luckless Queenslander Michael Neser as the only change to the Australian XI, with Victorian quick Scott Boland holding his spot after another memorable performance in last week’s 419-run thumping of the West Indies.

“A couple of the boys said it’s similar to what they’ve seen here in the past,” Cummins said.

“It looks like there’s a bit of grass. So we’ll see how it looks (at the toss, before making a decision).

“It always looks pretty green here a couple of days out, then on the morning of day one it looks a bit different.”

South Africa are weighing up whether to play five bowlers, with Rabada to lead a fast-bowling attack that includes Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje and giant left-armer Marco Jansen.

AUSTRALIA: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.