Rabada in South Africa's preliminary squad for Australia Tests

Kagiso Rabada's fitness will be assessed in an intra-squad match before the series

Kagiso Rabada has been included in South Africa's preliminary Test squad for the three-Test series against Australia, which starts on October 9 in Durban. Rabada is recovering from a hamstring injury sustained during winter training and his availability for the first Test will be assessed after an intra-squad match next week.

"We will give it [final decision on Rabada] as much time as humanly possible but we also don't want to take a call based on desperation," Shukri Conrad, South Africa's head coach, said in a press conference on Monday. "Based on how the three-day match plays out, a day or two after that, I reckon we will make a call."

Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman and Kwena Maphaka, who are also dealing with hamstring problems, have not been considered for selection. Instead, Anrich Nortje, who is no longer centrally contracted to CSA, is in line to play his first Test since March 2023, after being included in an expanded squad that includes seven quicks.RelatedAckerman, Bedingham turn up the heat in Test selection race

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"Anrich is as pedantic and professional as they come. He has got spreadsheets that detail all of the work that he has done. I'm very comfortable that he has done all the necessary work," Conrad said. "We've just got to look at the intensity that it's done in. We've got to look at whether a Test match is the best introduction back to the international fold." Nortje hasn't played for South Africa at all since March 1 this year.

Gerald Coetzee, who made an international comeback from injury in the first ODI against Australia last week, was picked after last playing a Test in November 2024. Corbin Bosch, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder and Dane Paterson, who was part of South Africa's World Test Championship final squad, make up the rest of the pace pack.

The only uncapped player is top-order batter Marques Ackerman, who has scored more than 1000 runs for South Africa A, and will be competing for a top three place with Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs and Mulder. Recent form could see Ackerman nudge ahead of them.Jiostar India Pvt Ltd

"On the batting front, we've stuck with our core group," Conrad said. "It's great to have Marques in the squad. The way he has led the SA A side, both as captain and through his performances with the bat, has earned him this opportunity. We're looking forward to having him in the Test environment."

Also in the mix for a middle-order spot is David Bedingham, who scored twin hundreds for Western Province in the most recent round of domestic first-class matches. Dewald Brevis, who was in South Africa's last Test squad that won in India, has not been included, with Conrad saying South Africa were looking at him as more of a subcontinent specialist in the longest format.

"It's a long summer so I am sure we will see [Brevis] at some stage. The blunt answer is that I don't think he is one of the best batters in Test cricket for us," Conrad said. "I think there are other guys for us in South African conditions. Brevis is probably more suited to us playing in Test cricket in the subcontinent.

"ODI cricket is a different story. You will see him at some stage. In Tests, he is a bit of a Rafael Nadal. He is a clay-court specialist."

Conrad was non-committal about who South Africa's No. 3 would be."People have got memories that span back to eight years ago, and there were hardware stores at the gate welcoming the Aussies, and I don't think that's disrespectful. I think that's quite smart, and they needed to be reminded of some of their misdemeanours"Shukri Conrad on the Sandpapergate incident

"We have had a few guys do the No. 3 job for us. In India, we flip-flopped between Wiaan and Stubbo. I think it's a global problem, No. 3," Conrad said. "People, if they are to play a card, they do it at No. 3. We have to look at our bowling attack. Depending on the balance of the side, that will determine what our side will look like. I will be very surprised if Tristan Stubbs doesn't the starting line-up.

"[Bedingham at No. 3] is a conversation we have had. I see him as the type of player who could do that job."

South Africa have named three spinners: Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy, all of whom played a role in the last World Test Championship cycle. With early season conditions expected to take some turn, especially as the matches are all at coastal venues, South Africa could find room for two of the three in their XI.

"Everything is a possibility. That's why we named an extended squad. If Harmer and Maharaj are two of the best five bowlers to win a Test then I am not going to rule that out," Conrad said. "If your next question is whether I am going to ask the groundsman to tailor-make a wicket for a spinners, the answer is no."

South Africa's Test squad will assemble in Durban on October 1, in preparation for what they expect to be a hard-fought series, on and off the field. This is the first Test time Australia are playing Tests in South Africa since the Sandpapergate scandal in 2018 and though Conrad said it was "not something that I've spent time on chatting in any of our team meetings", South African crowds will not have such short memories.Anrich Nortje could play his first Test since 2023•AFP

In the last series, after the Kingsmead staircase stoush between David Warner and Quinton de Kock (that took Faf du Plessis to solve), the St George's Park crowd taunted Warner's wife, Candice, with masks of New Zealand boxer and rugby player Sonny Bill Williams, with whom she had a previous relationship. Then, after Australia admitted to using sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball, supporters arrived with various bits of hardware store equipment at Newlands and in Johannesburg. While Conrad has urged home fans to get behind his team, he has asked them to do it with good will.

"Respect sits at the heart of everything we do. As cricketers, respect for the opposition, respect for the game, respect for each other in the change room. I'd like our fans to get firmly behind us. I'd also like our fans to give them some stick, but respectfully so," he said. "I don't think there's a place for taunting of wives or girlfriends or boyfriends or any of that. We want to play it hard. There's always going to be some spice in the series, and you'd expect nothing less from an Australia-South Africa series, you know. People have got memories that span back to eight years ago, and there were hardware stores at the gate welcoming the Aussies, and I don't think that's disrespectful. I think that's quite smart, and they needed to be reminded of some of their misdemeanours.

"But again, just respectful. They did what they did, and they've got to own it, and then they've got to deal with it. From a team perspective, we certainly don't give it any attention, but from the fans, I'd love nothing more than for our fans to get firmly behind us and do it respectfully when they do give the opposition a bit of grief."

South Africa squad for Australia Tests

Temba Bavuma (capt), Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne