Lost among the looking back to Australia’s Test tour of South Africa in 2018, there lies a similarity to the team about to take on that challenge in 2026. The previous side relied on a primo bowling quartet of Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, along with David Warner’s power as opener and the middle-order ballast of Steve Smith. The rest of the batting was makeshift: Cameron Bancroft the recently added opener, Usman Khawaja with at that stage a parlous record away from home, and the Marsh brothers an entirely unknowable quantity at five and six.
This time around, the same four bowlers have burnished their careers by a further 998 Test wickets, the proven batting still consists of one aggressive left-handed opener plus Smith, and Australia otherwise remain makeshift. Matt Renshaw has done good things against the white ball, but his preparation to be the country’s new opener in Durban has consisted of one innings against Bangladesh in Mackay. Marnus Labuschagne reassured with a warm-up century, but that game was so relaxed that he might have played in flip-flops.
Cameron Green was an issue until two Test innings ago, then having finally produced a performance of note, got injured. That means Beau Webster will be bowling cover, with one of Cooper Connolly or Nic Maddinson to get Green’s job with the bat. A choice between those two options is truly bizarre.
Granted, Connolly is a talent with a knack for nailing an entrance: his fourth Big Bash game, his fourth List A match, and his first-class debut all came in tournament finals, and each time he made a contribution to yet another trophy heading west. Still, Connolly has played little first-class cricket since, never exceeding his 90 on debut, while his long-format bowling has been a non-event. He had no claim to making a Test squad in Sri Lanka in 2025, a pick that led to one of the cheapest baggy greens ever handed out, for a match in which he was so peripheral that he might as well have been the boundary sponge.
In 2026 to date he has played one first-class match, made 10 and 10, and yet another squad spot given on potential rather than performance has seen another Test chance open up for him. The 23-year-old could well be the future, but has never yet demonstrated that he is the present. Maddinson, meanwhile, is the past.
It is bewildering how many cricket people in the last few days have cited him being highly regarded in his youth, as though that affects a 34-year-old today. He deserves all the goodwill in the world for overcoming cancer and getting back to the game, but goodwill doesn’t come bundled with a Test cap. If you think Connolly is light on for first-class cricket, Maddinson hasn’t played since March 2025, when he made 4 and 0 at the end of a season averaging 17.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
