Conrad expects spice as South Africa host Australia in their first home Tests in two years

Shukri Conrad says South Africa's World Test Championship final win over Australia will add spice to a three-Test home series that ends a two-year wait for Test cricket in the country

South Africa's head coach has framed the visit of Australia as the defining assignment of his side's home summer, with the first of three Tests beginning at Kingsmead in Durban on October 9.

The series moves to St George's Park in Gqeberha from October 18 and finishes at Newlands in Cape Town from October 27, with all three matches counting towards the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle.

"Any series against Australia is worth looking forward to, and more particularly because it's at home," Conrad told the ICC. "It's always exciting when Australia arrive on our shores and I am sure this one's going to be no different."

A wait that ends in Durban

The Durban Test will be the first played in South Africa in close to two years, a gap Conrad returned to more than once when he previewed the series.

"We haven't had international [Test] cricket in South Africa for almost two years," he said. "Certainly looking forward to playing in front of our home crowds against arguably the number one side in the world."

Temba Bavuma captains South Africa across the tour, while Pat Cummins leads Australia in the Tests after sitting out the one-day opener at Kingsmead, where Mitchell Marsh took the armband.

Spice carried over from Lord's

South Africa beat Australia by five wickets in the World Test Championship final at Lord's last year, and Conrad expects that result to colour the next month.

"I think there's always spice between South Africa and Australia. Maybe not as spicy as in years gone by, but I think the fact that we put one over them in the final last year might add a little bit of spice to what should be a really exciting and spicy series," he said.

He also said the final left his players with material to work from. "We respect them for the champion side that they are. I think we exposed one or two vulnerabilities in their lineup last year that I think we can build on."

A format South Africa rarely play

The three-Test schedule is itself unfamiliar for a side whose recent home and away assignments have run to two matches at most.

"A three-match series is a lot different to a one-off Test. It's our first three-match series in I don't know how long. We are accustomed to playing two-match series. So this is going to make it a real test for us," Conrad said.

He named Australia's attack as the central problem to solve. "We also know that they've got a world-class bowling attack and we certainly have the belief that when we play to our true potential we could find ways of nullifying that."

Fast bowling stocks under strain

South Africa went into the one-day leg of the tour without four seam bowlers. Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Ottneil Baartman were all unavailable with hamstring trouble, and Nandre Burger with a back complaint.

Their absence opened the way for Duan Jansen and the 20-year-old Nqobani Mokoena, while Gerald Coetzee returned to the one-day side for the first time since the 2023 World Cup.

How many of those bowlers are fit by October 9 will decide the attack Conrad can pick for the opening Test, and whether South Africa go into it with their first-choice pace group intact.

Where the two sides stand

Australia lead the World Test Championship table on 80 per cent of the points available, with South Africa second on 75 per cent, so the series carries weight beyond the rivalry Conrad described.

The one-day series that precedes it continues at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on September 27 and at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom on September 30, after South Africa won the opener in Durban.

South Africa and Australia begin the first of three Tests at Kingsmead on October 9, with the series running until October 31 in Cape Town.

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