Josh Inglis is set to rejoin the Australia squad ahead of the second Test against South Africa in Gqeberha.
Inglis, who had to return to Australia due to a finger fracture, is set to fly out and link up with the squad in South Africa while continuing his recovery. He sustained the injury in the first ODI in Durban late last month. Since the medical assessment ruled out surgery, Inglis is set to feature in the latter half of the tour.
With Cameron Green also potentially returning from an abdominal strain he suffered in the final ODI, Australia face a selection headache ahead of the second Test. Inglis would likely have featured in the XI for the Durban Test after Green was deemed unavailable due to an abdominal strain, if not for his own finger injury.
Australia eventually handed Nic Maddinson a Test comeback as an opener, having to rejig their batting order for the Test series opener.
“It really turned into two players replacing Josh Inglis,” head coach Andrew McDonald said. “If you looked at it like that, it wasn’t [just] another batter coming in. We had sort of flexibility with Josh and then Harper obviously takes the back-up glove role and then you’ve got where we got to with Nic.” The ongoing Test is Maddinson’s first first-class game since March 2025, having beaten testicular cancer just last September. He made a 33-ball duck in the first innings of his first Test in over a decade, since the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan in 2016.
