Australia Tour of South Africa 2026: 3 Tests, Sandpapergate Return

When Australia walk out at Centurion in September 2026, it will be the first time their Test side has stepped on a South African field since the third morning of the Cape Town Test in March 2018 — the morning Cameron Bancroft was filmed shoving a square of yellow sandpaper down his trousers. Eight and a half years on, the cast has almost entirely changed. Steve Smith is past his peak and was retired from Test cricket midway through the last cycle. David Warner finished his Test career on home soil in early 2024. Bancroft never properly came back. South Africa, for their part, are navigating their own transition — a post-Bavuma top order, a fast-bowling group in flux, and a Test side that surprised everyone by lifting the WTC mace in 2025.

This three-Test tour is, on paper, a routine assignment. In context, it is anything but. It is the closure of a chapter Australian cricket has been writing around for a decade, and a chance for both sides to bank serious points in the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle. This hub pulls together the schedule, the likely venues, the squad questions, and the storylines we will be tracking throughout the series.

---

Series at a glance

• Tour window: September to October 2026
• Format: 3 Test matches
• Host: Cricket South Africa (CSA)
• Visitors: Cricket Australia (CA)
• Trophy: Frank Worrell-style bilateral series (no dedicated trophy yet — CSA has hinted at one)
• WTC context: Counts in the 2025-27 cycle for both sides; 12 points per Test win
• Last Australia Test in SA: March 2018, Cape Town (the sandpapergate Test)

This is Australia's first full red-ball assignment in South Africa since 2018. Two scheduled tours in 2020 and 2023 fell through — first to COVID, then to a calendar collision with the inaugural SA20 league. CSA and CA finally locked the 2026 dates into the FTP in late 2024.

---

Provisional schedule

The official fixture list is expected from CSA in mid-2026. The dates below are based on the FTP draft circulated to broadcasters and are subject to formal confirmation.

#	Match	Dates	Likely venue
1	1st Test	Sep 17 – Sep 21, 2026	SuperSport Park, Centurion
2	2nd Test	Sep 25 – Sep 29, 2026	Newlands, Cape Town
3	3rd Test	Oct 7 – Oct 11, 2026	Wanderers, Johannesburg

A few quick notes on the calendar:

• Why September? It is the only meaningful red-ball window CSA has before the 2026-27 SA20 begins in January. South African pitches at this time of year are typically fast and bouncy with carry — exactly the kind of surfaces that have flattered Proteas pace attacks for decades.
• Cape Town in the middle: The choice to put Newlands in the middle slot, rather than as a series finale, is symbolically significant. CSA wants the sandpapergate venue confronted early and cleanly — not turned into the climax of the trip.
• Travel buffer: A 7–9 day gap between the second and third Tests gives both squads a proper rest before the Wanderers finale.

---

The three venues

Centurion (SuperSport Park)

The traditional CSA opener. Pace, bounce, often a green tinge on day one if the groundstaff have been told to spice it up. South Africa have an outstanding home record here, and the recent grass-cover doctrine — adopted under captain Aiden Markram — has made it a graveyard for visiting top orders. Australia have not won a Test at Centurion since 2014.

Cape Town (Newlands)

The venue. Newlands is, by common consent, the most beautiful Test ground in the world — Table Mountain looming over the Wynberg End — and the most painful in Australian cricket memory. The 2018 Test, the third of the series, was the one in which Bancroft was caught on camera, Smith and Warner were stripped of leadership and sent home, and the entire credibility architecture of Australian cricket cracked overnight. Eight years on, every Australian player walking out to bat at Newlands will be asked about it. Pat Cummins — who was on that 2018 tour as a young fast bowler — is the only likely member of the 2026 squad with first-hand experience of the original Test.

Wanderers (Johannesburg)

The Bullring. Highveld pace, altitude carry, and one of the best sight-lines for fast bowling anywhere in the world. The Wanderers finale tends to produce results — drawn Tests are rare here. If the series is alive going in, expect a fast, shortish Test with plenty of bouncers and tail-end bruises.

---

The sandpapergate context — and why it still matters

If you are a younger reader and have only heard the name in passing, here is the short version. On day three of the third Cape Town Test in March 2018, Cameron Bancroft was filmed using a piece of sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball. Captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner had pre-meditated the plan; opening batter Bancroft executed it. Cricket Australia handed down 12-month bans to Smith and Warner, a 9-month ban to Bancroft, and triggered a sweeping internal cultural review that reshaped the dressing room for years.

The episode is also the most consequential entry in our most consequential ball-tampering cases ranked list, because of the scale of the fallout — sponsor exits, captaincy resets, a head coach (Darren Lehmann) resigning in tears, and a generation of Australian cricketers shaped by the cultural correction that followed.

Why does this still matter in 2026? Two reasons. First, because Newlands has not hosted Australia in a Test since. The wound is still un-revisited at the venue itself. Second, because the closure narrative now intersects with a generational handover — the players who were either complicit (Smith, Warner) or junior bystanders (Cummins, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh) are mostly past or near the end of their Test careers. The Australia Test side that walks out at Newlands in September 2026 will be a mostly post-sandpapergate group.

---

How the two sides have changed

Australia: a top order in transition

The Australia of 2018 was Smith, Warner, Bancroft, and a settled pace cartel of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood. The Australia of 2026 still has the pace cartel — remarkably, all three are still bowling — but the top order has been almost entirely rebuilt. Sam Konstas and Marnus Labuschagne form the new top three. Travis Head is the senior batter. Cameron Green is the all-rounder. Alex Carey keeps wicket. The captaincy passed cleanly from Cummins (in his last Test summer in Australia) to Mitchell Marsh in the back end of the 2024-25 home Ashes.

What this means for the SA tour: a much-less-experienced top order arriving in conditions that historically punish inexperience. Konstas' technique against the moving ball will be examined ball by ball at Centurion. Labuschagne — out of form for two years now and only recently restored — has everything to play for.

South Africa: post-Bavuma, post-Markram

Temba Bavuma stepped down from Test captaincy after the 2025 WTC final. Aiden Markram took over and has, against expectation, held the side together. Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen lead the attack, with Anrich Nortje increasingly used in shorter spells off injury management. Tristan Stubbs is the batter of the cycle. Ryan Rickelton has consolidated as the keeper-batter at six. South Africa enter this series ranked second on the latest ICC Test rankings — a position they have not held this consistently since the early 2010s.

---

WTC 2025-27 stakes

Both sides are in the qualification race for the 2027 WTC Final. As of late April 2026:

• South Africa sit in second place, having banked a strong home cycle and a series win in Pakistan
• Australia sit in third, after a drawn home Ashes and a tougher away record this cycle

A 3-0 home series win for South Africa would consolidate them at the top of the table heading into the final twelve months of the cycle. A 2-1 or 3-0 away win for Australia would catapult them back into the conversation. Anything in between leaves both teams chasing.

For the points and PCT primer, see our ICC WTC rules and points system guide. To stress-test how India's parallel run is going (and what it means for Australia), the WTC India simulator is a useful sandbox.

---

Squads to watch

Full squads will be announced approximately three weeks before the first Test. Here is the framework to expect.

Australia (provisional)

Mitchell Marsh (captain), Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Josh Inglis, Matthew Renshaw, Todd Murphy.

The big selection question is the second spinner. Lyon plays the first Test as a near-certainty; the support spin role is between Murphy and a left-arm option, with conditions likely deciding it.

South Africa (provisional)

Aiden Markram (captain), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma, David Bedingham, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Keshav Maharaj, Wiaan Mulder, Dane Paterson, Senuran Muthusamy.

South Africa's pace stocks are deep enough that Nortje will likely be managed across the three Tests rather than asked to play all three. Rabada and Jansen are the certainties.

---

Storylines we are tracking

1. The Newlands moment

The pre-match presser ahead of the second Test will be the most-watched press conference of the Australian summer. Mitchell Marsh has already signalled, in pre-tour interviews, that the squad will not pretend the venue is just any other ground. Expect a clear, brief team statement on day one. After that, the cricket has to do the talking.

2. Konstas at Centurion

Sam Konstas' debut Test summer at home was a curate's egg — bright moments against India, harder yards in the Ashes. The Centurion Test, on a probable green seamer, is the toughest assignment of his young career. Whether he comes through it shapes the whole tour.

3. The fast-bowling stocks

Both sides have legitimate world-class pace attacks. Cummins / Starc / Hazlewood vs Rabada / Jansen / Nortje is the bowling matchup of the WTC cycle. On surfaces that historically reward seam over spin, this is where the series gets decided. We'll preview the fast-bowling head-to-head in a dedicated piece nearer the first Test.

4. WTC table churn

A South African sweep at home and they are firm favourites for the 2027 final. An Australia win and the table reshuffles. India, England and Pakistan are all watching closely — with Pakistan's own WTC tour of West Indies running in parallel later in the year.

---

How to watch (India)

The series will be available in India on the SuperSport India broadcast feed, carried by the rights-holding partner (likely Sony Sports Network for this cycle, subject to formal confirmation). Digital streaming will be on Sony LIV or JioHotstar depending on rights resolution; we will update this section once CSA confirms its 2026-27 India broadcast deal.

Start times in IST:

• Centurion / Wanderers: Play begins at 1:30 PM IST (10:00 local)
• Cape Town: Play begins at 1:30 PM IST (10:00 local SAST)

Lunch and tea sessions fall in evening prime-time hours for Indian audiences — ideal for couch viewing.

---

What a good tour looks like, for each side

For Australia, a good tour is 1-1 with a draw — or 2-1 either way. Anything where the sandpapergate Test at Newlands is played out cleanly, without controversy, with a good spirit, counts as a successful trip regardless of result. The cultural reset has been the longer project; the cricket result is downstream.

For South Africa, a good tour is 2-1 at minimum. They are at home, they are the higher-ranked side, they have just won a WTC final. The expectation, internally and from their fan base, is to win. Anything less than a series win at home would be a meaningful setback for Markram's captaincy.

For neutral fans, a good tour is three full Tests of high-quality fast bowling on lively surfaces, between two of the best Test sides in the world, with the historical weight of 2018 finally addressed and put to bed.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

When does Australia's 2026 Test tour of South Africa start? The first Test is scheduled to begin on September 17, 2026, at SuperSport Park in Centurion. The full tour runs from mid-September through mid-October across three Tests at Centurion, Cape Town, and Johannesburg.

Why is this Australia's first Test tour of South Africa since 2018? After the sandpapergate Test in March 2018, two scheduled return tours (in 2020 and 2023) fell through — the first to COVID-19, the second to a scheduling clash with the SA20 league. The 2026 tour is the next properly available window.

Will Steve Smith or David Warner play in the series? No. David Warner retired from Test cricket in January 2024. Steve Smith retired from the Test format midway through the 2023-25 cycle. Neither will feature in the 2026 SA tour.

Does this series count for the World Test Championship? Yes. All three Tests are part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle, with 12 points available to the winning side per Test. The result will materially affect both sides' PCT in the qualification race for the 2027 WTC Final.

Where will the second Test in Cape Town be played? At Newlands — the same ground that hosted the 2018 sandpapergate Test. CSA has scheduled the venue deliberately as the middle Test rather than the series climax, so the symbolic weight is dealt with cleanly mid-tour rather than at the end.

---

The cricket will get its airing. The closure, finally, gets its venue. For more international previews, see our domestic cricket category.