Aussies dodge big threat as worrying pitch sight, young gun twist complicate selection call

Australia has dodged the menacing threat posed by Kagiso Rabada for the opening Test against South Africa beginning in Durban on Friday after he failed in a late bid to prove his fitness.

However, they have a late selection query of their own, with Cooper Connolly leaving training in a mask as he battles a head cold.

Any doubt over Connolly would further complicate a difficult selection dilemma for the visitors, who are weighing up which two of the Western Australian, Nic Maddinson and Beau Webster play in the middle order in Durban.

While the emerging star trained, he was later seen putting on a mask and leaving the ground in a car rather than the team bus, with Australia taking no chances on match eve.

South African captain Temba Bavuma said the Proteas opted for caution with Rabada, who ran rampant in the infamous Sandpapergate series back in 2018, as he recovers from a hamstring strain.

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But the Proteas skipper believes the nation’s attack is well-balanced, with South Africa opting for a spin double-threat after Australia’s struggles in the recent one-day international series, with Simon Harper to partner Keshav Maharaj.

While Australia opted against announcing an XI until the morning of the match, the reigning World Test Champions were happy to announce their side a day out from the start of the highly-anticipated series.

The Aussies want another chance to inspect a pitch that Bavuma expects will take turn as the Test progresses, with the weather on Thursday fine and warm after storms hit the coastal city earlier in the week, captain Pat Cummins said.

“It looks like they’re going to be a challenge,” Cummins said.

“(By choosing) two spinners, obviously (that) tells you that they think it might turn a little bit out there. But we don’t have a team at this stage. The selectors will come down here and we just want to have one more look at the ground. But we’re pretty confident we’ve got an XI, but the selectors just want one more day.”

Bavuma, who spoke prior to a captain’s shoot with the Australian skipper at a destination near the ground, said the South Africans are certain the pitch will turn as the Test progresses.

“I think probably as the game goes by (it will turn). Ordinarily, that’s how Durbin has gone about it,” he said.

“I mean, I think of the last year when we played Sri Lanka. The seamers were very happy as to how the conditions were playing, and then look, the (match) didn’t really go further into day four, day five of the game, so (the) spinners weren’t needed, but generally in the latter part of the of the match, the spinners come into play.”

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Former Australian Test stars including Allan Border and Brendon Julian have told foxsports.com.au in recent weeks they are concerned with the manner the Australians handled spin during the 2-1 series loss to South Africa in the ODIs.

While Steve Smith is an exceptional player against all bowlers, it was notable other members of the side did not handle it as well in the one-day arena.

The Aussies have focused on spin in recent days in the nets, with Nathan Lyon and Matt Kuhnemann joined by all-rounder Webster, Connolly and Travis Head in sending down spinning deliveries.

“I was here for the one dayer and it took a little bit of turn (and) kind of looking back through some of the previous Test matches, there haven’t been too many at this time of year, and not for a little while as well, just any Test matches,” Cummins said.

“But it is sometimes a little bit slow day one – the game can slow up for a day or two – and then can speed up with spin at the back end. So, like any Test match, you got to be ready for everything.

“A lot of our prep work has been talking about those challenges. There might be different tempos within each from session to session, so we just have got to make sure we match that.”

The absence of Rabada, who did a series of fitness drills in Durban on Wednesday, is a blow but Bavuma believes the double-threat posed by Harper and Maharaj will be an advantage should the Test extend to a fourth and fifth day.

“Those two spin twins, if I could call them that, I think they’ve added another dimension to our bowling attack, as much as we’ve always been about the fast bowling,” Bavuma said on Thursday.

“But when conditions have allowed for spinners to come into the game or the slow bowlers, they’ve been able to play an effective role.

“So again, if the conditions play that way, we’ve got two guys that I’m confident in, that the whole team is confident in, that they can put the other opposition under pressure. I think there’s a healthy competition between them, so that always helps.”

Despite his expectations that the pitch will spin, Bavuma doubts the Australians will alter their strategy of fielding three seamers and spinner Nathan Lyon as the primary members of the attack.

Scott Boland was near on unplayable in a nets session on Tuesday, but whether he is able to force his way into a team given the three champion fast bowlers in Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are all fit is doubtful.

But Cummins noted Matt Kuhnemann offered handy variety if the tourists opt to strengthen their spin department.

“They could definitely both play. That’s why they were picked. Kuhny brings something a little bit different to Nate, obviously, by spinning the ball away from the right-handers,” Cummins said.

“I think they’re both really well-placed. Nate’s had a great build-up. I think … even the adjustment from Darwin to Mackay, I thought he bowled really well in Mackay and looked back to his best.

“He’s played here before on a few tours and knows these conditions well. I think he’s really well placed. And with Kuhny, if we need the second spinning option, spinning the ball away, he’s done it well in these kind of similar, really kind of drastic, kind of big spinning conditions. So if we need him, he’s ready.”

The Aussies are also weighing up between Cooper Connolly and Nic Maddinson to fill the spot left vacant by Cam Green, but what Cummins does want to see is his batting order knuckle down through tough sessions.

“Getting to that grind, we haven’t played too many of those (long) Test matches in the last few years, particularly in Australia. They’ve been quite fast-paced,” he said.

“I think a lot of our success has come off those big moments – a Travis head hundre or Starkey running through the top order. But I think we’ve got to get a little bit better, and we can get a bit better (by) getting to the grind.

“It might not be … the glamorous stuff, but it’s that grinding out a session, going for two runs an over, not not these magic balls or not these whirlwind innings. That’s been part of the conversation, that again, whatever tempo gets thrown at us, or what the game needs, (we have to) make sure we match that.”

Bavuma noted the Australian top order is in a state of flux, a similar situation to the 2025 WTC Final at Lord’s when South Africa pulled off a significant upset, and are yet to find a permanent replacement for David Warner.

“I guess it’s not different, right? When we played them last year, we weren’t exactly too sure as to what that top order would look like,” he said.

“I think that’s just probably the phase that they find themselves in replacing a guy like David Warner. Individuals like that don’t (appear) overnight and I think that presents nice opportunities for the Australian local guys. If I think of us a couple of years ago, we probably found ourselves in that situation.”