England travel to South Africa for a three-Test series starting in December, with a home Ashes on the horizon next summer, so what can they glean from Australia's 214-run win in Durban to open their own series in South Africa? It's nearly a year since the Proteas last played Test cricket - an impressive 2-0 series win in India - while this represented their first home Test since winning the World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord's in June 2025. They looked short of a gallop, as a result.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player There were encouraging contributions from Aiden Markram - in particular his 237-ball, near six-hour stay at the crease in the second innings in South Africa's ultimately futile attempt to bat out for a draw - and David Bedingham, who did well with a couple of 40s at No 3. But they weren't telling enough totals for the longer format, with South Africa guilty of throwing away numerous starts in the first innings - six players scoring at least 30 but failing to kick on - as they surrendered a 106-run deficit. There were a couple of failures from Ryan Rickelton at the top of the order, while the captain's contribution will also be questioned as Temba Bavuma managed just four runs total across his two innings.
The question is whether this was a sign of deeper problems for the side or simply the inevitable consequence of a rusty return to Test cricket after their extended absence. England should have their answer by the time they arrive in South Africa ahead of their first Test in Johannesburg on December 17, as the hosts have two further Tests against Australia, followed by a two-match series against Bangladesh in November to get sufficiently up to speed. With his first-innings, career-best 190, Matt Renshaw might just have cemented himself a middle-order spot for Australia for the foreseeable future.
The player of the match - who also chipped in with 82 in the second innings and a couple of wickets with his part-time off-spin - helped rescue Australia from 124-6 on day one when in danger of surrendering control of the contest amid familiar top-order batting failings. Instead, Australia posted a score of 390 deep into day two and never looked back from there. If Renshaw has indeed grabbed hold of the No 5 position, at least for the rest of the series, there are still questions to be resolved regarding the makeup of the rest of the batting line-up.
Travis Head, for example, had previously made that position his own before being bumped up to open midway through the Ashes last winter. It was a move that paid dividends at the time, as he hit three hundreds in winning causes at Perth, Adelaide and Sydney. However, he has not passed 22 in his three Test appearances since, including falling foul of a couple of soft dismissals in Durban.
Renshaw has also opened previously for Australia, so might there be a switch of the two at some point? One to revisit prior to their trip to England next summer, perhaps? For now though, Renshaw will surely get the benefit of a run in the middle order and Australia have bigger batting issues to resolve before determining how to best use Head.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
