Australia need a response in the series-deciding third Test in Cape Town after being beaten by an innings and 31 runs in Gqeberha, where they were bowled out for 99 in the first innings. The series is level at 1-1, and the match starts at 7.30am on Tuesday (8am first ball). Steve Smith faces a late fitness test, and Marnus Labuschagne may have one innings to save his place.
Australia are about to play a Test in Cape Town for the first time since the ball-tampering scandal of 2018 that paused several of their cricketers’ careers. If they lose this week, more careers could end.
If the response does not come, the reaction from the Australian media could be harsher than the sandpaper Cameron Bancroft tried to hide down his trousers eight years ago.
The batting has been creaking for a while
In the 4-1 Ashes defeat of England last winter, the batting was held together by Travis Head, Steve Smith and Alex Carey while others struggled. In South Africa, the tourists have managed only three individual fifty-plus scores so far: one for Head and two for Matt Renshaw.
Without Head in Durban, the situation would have been even worse. His second-innings 121 was 81 more runs than the next highest score by an Australian in that game.
Smith, who received a ban for his role as captain in ‘Sandpapergate’ in 2018 alongside Bancroft and David Warner, has also struggled. He has made three scores in the 20s and one of three. He was hampered by a neck problem in Gqeberha and now faces a late fitness test before the winner-takes-all finale. If he fails that test, it could open the door for Marnus Labuschagne to keep his place.
Labuschagne and selector Bailey under big pressure
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting called Labuschagne’s position “untenable” after a lean home summer against Bangladesh left him without a Test century in 43 innings, stretching back to the 2023 Ashes in England. That run has now reached 47 innings.
Labuschagne has started well in South Africa, his birthplace, reaching the 30s in three of his four innings. However, he has not converted those starts. He was pinned lbw, sliced loosely to cover, was brilliantly caught at gully by Simon Harmer, and then holed out inexplicably to long-on in the second innings of the second Test, a game Australia were trying to save.
If he misses out this week, his time in the side could be over. If he plays and fails, the story could be much the same. If Australia fail as a team, pressure may build on head selector George Bailey. Former captain Steve Waugh said before the Ashes that Bailey had previously shown a lack of “appetite” for making the big calls, and Matthew Hayden criticized the selection of Nic Maddinson for the South Africa tour.
Maddinson’s ditching highlights Australia’s problems
Maddinson, 34, had not played a first-class game since March 2025 after a testicular cancer diagnosis, and he averaged 6.75 from his first three Tests back in 2016. Hayden accused the selectors of “disrespecting first-class cricket” and “promoting the greatest pile of mediocrity that we’ve seen in a generation of cricket.”
Maddinson has struggled in this series too. He averages 14 after scoring 56 runs from four innings, 48 of which came in one knock. He has since been released from the squad, and Renshaw is set to open alongside Head in Cape Town.
Given what Maddinson went through with his health, many wanted him to succeed, but he has not. That raises the question of whether a younger player should have been given a chance instead. Ollie Davies, Sam Konstas, Campbell Kellaway and Nathan McSweeney were all options.
The problem for Australia is that, unlike in earlier eras when they had players averaging over 40 and scoring heavily in domestic cricket, including in English county cricket, there are few waiting in the wings now. Every prospect mentioned above averages in the mid-30s or lower in first-class cricket.
Will Bavuma extend his excellent record as captain?
South Africa, by contrast, have a dependable source of runs in captain Temba Bavuma. His brilliant 179 from 334 balls in Gqeberha lifted his average to 49.95 across his last 28 Tests. That innings came after he walked in with the score at 12-2.
He was also at the other end when the Proteas slumped to 110-6, and he went on to push them to 425-9. He was then left to celebrate a 12th win in 14 Tests as captain.
This looks like a strong chance for Bavuma to make it 13 wins from 15, unless Australia can pull something special out of the bag in Cape Town.