Australians to provide Proteas with limited overs tune up

Australia’s eight match “white ball” tour of South Africa in September will provide the Proteas with an opportunity to build depth while also, hopefully, getting in a “practice” run before the 50-over World Cup.

The Proteas will face Australia in three T20 Internationals and five ODIs starting at the end of August. Matches have been divided between Bloemfontein, Potchefstroom, Durban, Centurion and Johannesburg. 

The tour is part of Cricket Australia’s payback for their last minute cancellation of a Test series in South Africa in 2021, when they cited unhappiness with the country’s Covid-19-protocols despite being assured of presidential levels of protection. 

The tour starts on August 30, with the first of the three T20 Internationals at Kingsmead, where, if the Proteas’ new limited overs coach Rob Walter is to be believed, there’ll be opportunities handed to young — Dewald Brevis — and old — Faf du Plessis — with an eye on the 2024 T20 World Cup that will be hosted in the West Indies and the USA. 

In the short term, the five ODIs — which will be spread between venues in the Free State, North West and Gauteng — may hold greater importance.

The Proteas will hope that either through direct qualification, which could be confirmed next week, or via the ICC qualification tournament in Zimbabwe, their spot in this year’s World Cup will be secured. 

That would allow Walter the opportunity to use the Australia series to finalise combinations and strategies. Failure to qualify would make for an embarrassing few weeks, which the Australian players would undoubtedly remind the Proteas about. Still it would create opportunities for the bigger goal, which for Walter and Cricket SA (CSA) is the 2027 World Cup that will be hosted in South Africa. 

It is Australia’s first trip to SA since 2020 — also a limited overs only tour — when they won a T20 series 2-1, after which the Proteas triumphed 3-0 in the ODIs. 

“Games and tours like these against a formidable Australia side can only do good for our Proteas Men,” said CSA CEO, Pholetsi Moseki.

“It is also an opportunity for coach Rob Walter and his team to keep building on the excellent work they have already done so far together.” 

SCHEDULE

T20 Series: 

1st — Durban, August 30 

2nd — Durban, September 1

3rd — Durban, September 3

ODI Series:

1st — Bloemfontein, September 7

2nd — Bloemfontein, September 9 

3rd — Potchefstroom, September 12

4th — Centurion, September 15

5th — Johannesburg, September 17