Markram is expected to be available after he left the Hundred early for personal reasons and also did not play in the opening round of domestic first-class matches. Bavuma, meanwhile, is fit and firing after a long break and ready to lead South Africa’s World Test Championship defence. Who makes up the rest?
For Ackerman, it could be a debut call-up after 10 years in the domestic game and a particularly strong recent run. He seems ready after a century for the Dolphins against Western Province at the weekend, which has put him firmly in the spotlight ahead of the first Test against Australia at his home ground, Kingsmead. “I’m quite aware of the position I’m in and the performances that I’ve put in of late so I’m hoping that I can get the call to be part of the squad, which will be amazing,” Ackerman told Cricinfo.
If he does, some would say it was only a matter of time. Ackerman has come through “every single stage” of South African cricket, as he put it: from schools cricket at St Stithians (the alma mater of Rickelton, with whom he was in the same year) to the under-19 side and a first-class career that started in the amateur provincial structures before moving to the top tier. “I’ve been at every level,” he said. “If you want to speak about a player that’s come through the pipeline, I’ve been there.”
In the 2023-24 season, Ackerman was the leading run-scorer in the first-class competition, ahead of Stubbs who made his Test debut that year. Ackerman has played regularly for South Africa A since 2024 and averages 71.7, including two double hundreds and two other centuries, and three fifties.
“My highlight would be the one in India against an Indian Test-like attack,” Ackerman said. “But with all of them, I got the opportunity to score runs in foreign conditions using different balls like the Duke in England. Those are like really good experiences against good players so if you do make that step up into international cricket, then at least you’ve experienced facing these guys at that level.”
At 30 years old, Ackerman is in his prime, understands his game and most importantly the career path ahead. He has chosen to focus largely on the longer format.
“Growing up, my dream is to represent the Proteas but everyone has a different path and it is a different timeline. It’s all a journey and you learn the game, go through different phases in your career and really figure out what works for you,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I’m the guy that earns all the big money around the world.
I played a bit in the Sri Lanka Premier League [LPL] and it’s good fun and you make some good money in a short period of time but my biggest goal would be to say I’ve represented South Africa playing Test cricket. I haven’t given up on that dream yet. I’ll push as much as I can.”
Bedingham, who played against Ackerman at the weekend, believes he has done enough. “He was amazing. The way he strikes the ball for such a small guy is amazing,” Bedingham told Cricinfo. “He’s very attacking, very aggressive, always looking to make a play. He used his feet, hit guys over the head, changed angles, was moving around the crease and that’s quite rare in first-class cricket.
“I’m not a selector, but do I think he can play Test cricket? Definitely.”
It’s a question Bedingham has been asking himself too after he missed out on South Africa’s last four Tests, first through injury but also because he fell out of form. After his breakthrough century in New Zealand in 2024, Bedingham has played 11 Tests with just two fifties and there is a sense he has not lived up to expectations. But he’s back and in good touch after scoring over 1,000 runs for Durham in Division 2 of the County Championship this season and working with former South African batting coach Dale Benkenstein on his mindset.
“I was fighting my own demons,” Bedingham said. “Last year, I was tinkering around with my technique and mentally I don’t think I was in a strong place. I see myself as quite a cricket badger and I watch a lot of cricket and let’s say if I enjoy watching Harry Brook batting, when I was in a bad space a couple of years ago, it was almost like, okay, well, let’s try a bat like him. That’s quite a dark space to be in.”
With Benkenstein and Ben Stokes’ help, Bedingham learned to trust himself again. “I found it a lot easier to cope with this year because I was lucky enough to play with Ben Stokes this year. I spoke to him about how many times he’s also tinkered with his trigger or his stance. It makes you feel that even these superstars sometimes overthink and sometimes do try different things. That made me feel a lot more at ease.”
Still, Bedingham was “quite nervous” ahead of Western Province’s season opener against the Warriors and made 5 and 23* but came back the following week to score two hundreds in the same match and felt more in control. “I felt calm. I felt quite sharp out there,” Bedingham said. “When I start overthinking, I struggle but this whole year, I’ve just been pretty clear. If the ball’s there, hit it. If it’s not there, try and leave it. I am just quite clear in my thinking.”
His innings have come at exactly the right time to surge to the forefront of the selection conversation. Does he think he will be back for South Africa? “I’m not sure. I’d like to think so and hope so because I love playing for the country,” he said. “The only way to really get picked is by scoring runs. Hopefully it happens because I feel that I still have quite a bit to give.”
While Ackerman and Bedingham should both come into contention, there may only be room for one of them in a line-up.
The incumbents
Tristan Stubbs
Wiaan Mulder
Mulder played four matches for Essex early in the county season and scored two fifties but had to return home to be with his ill father. He has not played any red-ball cricket since May. He was due to play in the first round of domestic matches but had to withdraw from the Lions’ game against Boland for personal reasons.
Tony de Zorzi
The bulk of de Zorzi’s runs in first-class cricket have come opening the batting and it is also from there that he scored an impressive 177 against Bangladesh. But he also had international success at No. 4. In Pakistan, de Zorzi scored a century in Lahore and 55 in Rawalpindi batting at No. 4 in place of the injured Bavuma. With Bavuma fit and that spot unavailable, de Zorzi either has to go up against Markram and Rickelton or hope for a place at No. 5. He batted there against India and got a best score of 49. De Zorzi also doesn’t have much recent form to back him. He was on the South Africa A tour in England but made just 38 runs in four innings against the Lions.
South Africa are expected to announce their Test squad next week.
Firdose Moonda is Cricinfo’s senior correspondent for Africa and women’s cricket