Cape Town Return! Australia to play first Test series in South Africa since 2018; full schedule inside
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CSA announce marquee schedule for home season; AUS set to tour after 8 years Photograph: (AFP)
Australia, England and Bangladesh are the three teams touring South Africa for eight Tests combined in the latest home schedule announced.
Australia will tour South Africa for a Test series for the first time in eight years later this year, with Newlands in Cape Town, famous for the sandpaper gate during the 2018 tour, hosting one of the three scheduled matches. Australia will play three ODIs in Durban, Johannesburg and Potchefstroom, respectively, in late September before the Test cricket action gets underway at Kingsmead. St George’s Park in Gqeberha will stage the second Test, and the picturesque Newlands will host the final Test, all in October.
Australia will also feature in a two-day warm-up fixture at JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, before the Tests begin.
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Cricket South Africa (CSA) revealed its men’s and women’s home fixtures for the first time in close to two years, with the defending World Test Championship (WTC) winners hosting Australia in a marquee series.
A few names involved in the watershed Cape Town Test in 2018, which rocked Australian cricket to its core with match-fixing allegations, including Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, are active on the Test roster, while among those from South Africa include Kagiso Rabada, captain Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram and Keshav Maharaj.
While Smith is the only one of three, including David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, involved in the sandpaper gate, who actively plays for Australia, Usman Khawaja and Tim Paine, who led Australia after Smith served a year’s ban, are both retired.
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However, the reports also state that Australia will play an ODI series in Zimbabwe before flying to South Africa for a full tour.
Check out Australia’s tour of South Africa 2026 –
ODI Series -
- 1st ODI - September 24, Kingsmead Stadium, Durban
- 2nd ODI - September 27, Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
- 3rd ODI - September 30, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom (D/N)
Warm-up Match
October 3-4 - JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom
Test Series
- 1st Test - October 9-13, Kingsmead Stadium, Durban
- 2nd Test - October 18-22, St George’s Park, Gqeberha
- 3rd Test - October 27-31, Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town
Bangladesh and England to follow
Meanwhile, Bangladesh will be next, touring South Africa in November and December, for two Tests, three One-Dayers and as many T20Is.
Afterwards, England will be the next team to tour South Africa for three Tests and three ODIs, with the season concluding on January 15. However, the England ODIs will overlap with SA20, which runs from January 9 to February 14, 2027.
