Preview: Australia and South Africa are set to lock horns in the Test arena for the first time since the 2018 ‘Sandpaper’ series with the first of three matches beginning on Saturday at Brisbane.
The Australians who have been led by Pat Cummins in the red-ball format for more than a year now, will be eager to get back to winning ways after losing each of their last two Test series’ against South Africa. The Proteas had won the three-Test series 2-1 in the 2016 tour of Australia, gaining an unassailable lead after winning the first two matches.
In Australia’s tour of South Africa in 2018, the Steve Smith-led visitors would go 1-0 up in the visitors, only for the Proteas to bounce back with clinical displays in each of the next three games to take the series 3-1. It was during the third Test in Cape Town when TV cameras caught Cameron Bancroft taking a piece of sandpaper out of his trousers and using it to quietly scuff up the ball.
The incident blew up overnight, with captain Smith and vice-captain David Warner’s names also cropping up in the investigation that followed. All three would be slapped with bans by Cricket Australia, with Smith and Warner getting leadership bans placed on them.
Squads:
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Lance Morris, Michael Neser, Marcus Harris.
South Africa: Dean Elgar(c), Sarel Erwee, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Kyle Verreynne(w), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Lizaad Williams, Simon Harmer, Khaya Zondo, Heinrich Klaasen, Gerald Coetzee.
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