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Australia’s hierarchy are keeping everyone on their toes ahead of the second Test against South Africa in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), starting at 7pm AEDT on Sunday.

The selectors have already pulled a few shocks in this series and comments emerging from the team camp have hinted at more mixing and matching as Pat Cummins’ men chase a series-clinching victory at St George’s Park.

Watch Australia’s Tour of South Africa Live & Exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports.

The batting order is all the rage as normal, while the four-day turnaround between Tests also has the bowlers in the spotlight despite their fine outing in Durban.

A concerning issue that could not be avoided in the first Test may unfortunately not go away in Gqeberha, where South Africa have defeated Australia in their last two Tests to level the series.

The Proteas are ringing the changes themselves to find a quick reply after their disappointment in Durban with two players with a history of getting under the skin of the Australians tasked with leading a fightback.

Scroll down for the biggest talking points ahead of the second Test in Gqeberha!

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WHAT WILL THE AUSSIE SELECTORS DO?

Following the surprise call of Nic Maddinson to open the batting in the first Test with Matt Renshaw sliding down, no one quite knows what rabbit the Australian selectors will pull out of their hat next.

There is a big decision to come.

Cameron Green certainly warrants a place in the side after his defiant Darwin hundred and being the only batter to pass fifty in Mackay during the Top End series against Bangladesh, but he will have to wait until Cape Town to play.

The second Test in Gqeberha (formerly known as Port Elizabeth) starting Sunday is set to be a bridge too far, with the first ball to be bowled only 18 days after Green sustained the injury, though the Western Australian is back in the nets.

He faced throwdowns for the best part of an hour on Saturday in the best sign yet that he is improving from the stomach injury he suffered in a one-day international last month.

The stomach injury has not ruined his appetite, with Australian captain Pat Cummins quipping he downed two plates of spaghetti bolognaise before heading out to practice his batting.

“I don’t think he’s available for this week,” he said.

“I think when we kept him here, the hope was – it’s a bit of a weird injury – but he’s ticking off all the steps so far. There is still a bit to go, but we’re hoping for next week.”

Green’s continued absence may not mean Australia makes no changes to its winning side from Durban, however.

Assistant coach Matthew Wade said earlier in the week that Josh Inglis will “push for this Test” and he has also spent a significant amount of time in the nets over the past three days.

“Whether his finger is 100 per cent right for this Test, I’m not sure, but he’s looking to put himself on the frame,” the former Australian gloveman added.

There is some rain forecast for the first two days, so Australia may be enticed to look at Inglis in place of Beau Webster given his all-round skills may be less desirable, and Inglis’ fast-scoring may be beneficial, in a potentially shortened game.

Scott Boland provided the most impressive claim at training in the lead-up to the Test, but the Victorian quick will be relying on one of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc or Josh Hazlewood to pull up sore after Durban.

Or the unlikely scenario of a green pitch that would encourage the selectors to leave out the spin of Nathan Lyon.

Cummins said on Saturday they will leave the decision on a final XI until the toss when assessing the pitch and awaiting to see whether a predicted thunderstorm arrives, but he did say that Lyon offered a lot in Durban last week.

“Give us until tomorrow morning,” he said.

“We love playing with Nath. We saw last week (that he took) a couple of key wickets in the first innings, but even with the control he gives, it makes the rest of us fast bowlers be able to function (better).”

However, a last-minute curveball could be on the cards, with CODE Sports reporter Daniel Cherny posting to X an image confirming the Gqeberha surface will start with a healthy coating of grass, as forecast by curator Adrian Carter.

Australia have shown their willingness in the last 12 months to opt for a four-man pace attack in the right conditions, having dropped Nathan Lyon in the West Indies and for the second Ashes Test at the Gabba.

With Scott Boland bowling fearsomely in the nets and never far away from a call-up, another brutal call on Lyon isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

BOWLERS’ MATURE RESPONSE

Those at Kingsmead heard the Australians belting out the team song hours after Hazlewood took the final scalp to seal a 1-0 victory in the series opener on Tuesday.

But the bowlers’ celebrations were measured to ensure they are ready to go for the four-day turnaround.

“The batters will be yahooing, having beers and the bowlers will be in the other corner with Coke Zeros and ice all over them getting ready for Sunday,” former Australian women’s captain Alyssa Healy said of the Australian celebrations on the Keepin’ It Cricket podcast.

Healy also said she said was “relieved” that the tourists’ avoided one big selection headache in Gqeberha.

“I tell you what I’m most relieved about is that Steve Smith came back on the field on day five because we don’t have to talk about the batting order for the next Test match,” Healy said.

“Because if Steve Smith was in doubt and all of sudden we’re deciding who’s going to bat where in that second Test, I think my mind would have exploded.

“Let’s just leave it alone and see what unfolds.”

Smith was not spotted in the nets on Saturday by this reporter but he did bat at length on Thursday before another stint on Friday.

Cummins, meanwhile, was asked about the champion’s pre-series comments about potentially missing the Ashes.

He said he could understand why Smith assessed his career through a series-by-series lens these days.

“In my head, it’s probably not as big of a deal as what it’s made out to be,” Cummins said.

“I think a lot of people have a grand exit and plan it years in ahead. I think where he’s at, and I totally get it, is I don’t really want to think that far ahead, and that doesn’t necessarily mean that something’s in it.

“It means he’s in a really good place. He’s got other things going on in his life, and you know, 12 months can be a long time in a sporting career. So I don’t think you need to read into it any more than that.

“I think he’s batting really well and catching really well and seems to be enjoying himself around the group. Hopefully he’s playing for a lot longer. But any conversation that I have had is that there isn’t a big grand exit that’s very well planned ahead.”

A LITTLE BIT OF HEADY, RENNERS, MADDO, GREENY…

Leaving things alone is not really what this team does, however.

One of the greatest myths in cricket is to never change a winning team.

Cummins, coach Andrew McDonald, chair of selectors George Bailey and fellow selector Tony Dodemaide do not look in the rear view mirror.

They are purely look through the windscreen to determine how they can win the next Test match.

That means more batting order tweaks could be on the road ahead.

Cummins said in Durban that it would take something “compelling” to shift Matt Renshaw from No.5, but just like Lou Bega in his 1999 Mambo No.5, the Australians like to “jump up and down and move it all around”.

Because they want a bit of Cameron Green in their life, a bit of Matt Renshaw by their side, a bit of Travis Head’s all they need and a bit of Nic Maddinson’s what they see.

On this occasion it seems as though Renshaw will bat at No.5, with it likely that Maddinson will open once again based on Cummins comments in a press conference on the eve of the Test.

But essentially, the Australian hierarchy are happy to go with whatever suits them best for the here and now rather than be wed to one way of doing things.

“I think if the conditions tell us that it’s time to change the batting order, we’ll make that change like everyone’s spoken about,” assistant coach Matthew Wade told reporters in Gqeberha on Thursday.

“We’re doing whatever we can do to win the Test match at that time. So if first innings change dramatically to second innings and there was a better option that we thought might work, then we’d certainly take that on.

“Andrew McDonald and (chair of selectors George Bailey) put a lot of work into it. It’s not something that would just get dropped on a player. They’ll know leading into a Test match what it looks like, and in the days leading in to lock down their game plan. There’s plenty of planning around it.

“If it ever happened in between innings, it would be the same thing. The communication is always something that this group is really strong (at).”

Cummins revealed following the win in Durban that watching Renshaw tackle the tweakers in the preceding ODIs in Zimbabwe and South Africa that the left-hander would be “pretty good at No.5”.

And after that hunch paid off handsomely, Wade hinted the combination of Maddinson and Travis Head, who spent time in the nets batting on Saturday, would be likely to stay in Gqeberha.

Ever since Sam Konstas was thrusted into the Boxing Day bright lights against India two years ago, Australia has sought aggressive openers.

Following the retirement of David Warner, whose strike rate did drop in the latter stages of his career, Australia found the combinations of Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja and then Nathan McSweeney and Khawaja to not get the scoreboard ticking enough.

They had the same issue when Khawaja opened with Marnus Labuschagne in last year’s World Test Championship.

Konstas, Head, Jake Weatherald and Maddinson have all been given a go at the top because the Australians want counter-punchers.

Players who will fight fire against the new ball to ensure the scoreboard is ticking over before Smith gets to the crease at the fall of the second wicket.

Renshaw does not fit that mould.

The rapid rise of his white-ball game has certainly added more weapons to his arsenal, but he is a more old-fashioned opening batter.

Wade’s comments suggested that Australia is keen on a combination who could have the tourists’ past 50 in the blink of an eye.

“I think it’s traditionally openers open and then you go from there, but we’ve seen over the last little bit that we’ve been able to adapt really quickly,” he said.

“More importantly, the players take it on so easily, and credit to them.

“Conditions have changed so much over the last ten years, especially at the domestic level. We’re finding guys are going up and attacking more. Obviously, the way England attacked Test cricket was completely different to maybe what we’ve seen before. I think it’s just the evolution of the game.

“Maybe conditions have dictated guys to go up into that role and maybe attack a little bit more, which means guys shuffle around. Where it lands in the next four or five years, no one knows.”

WILL THE CROWD BE BIGGER?

One of the biggest shocks from the opening Test was how sparse the grandstands and grassy banks at Kingsmead were.

In the lead-up to the series, much was made of South African crowds with long memories itching to get stuck into the Australians on their first Test tour of the country since Sandpapergate in 2018.

But on most days, it looked as if there were more travelling Australians than locals watching on as the tourists charged to a 214-run victory.

Nathan Lyon summed up the mood in a press conference after day three in which he said: “I was expecting more of a crowd, if I’m being honest with you.

“When you’ve got the Australian cricket team competing against South Africa in South Africa, No.1 and No.2 going at it, I was expecting a bigger crowd, but no, they’ve been pretty quiet to be honest.”

The Durban Test was South Africa’s first home Test since they won the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in 2025.

It was certainly not the homecoming parade many were expecting.

The Proteas’ remarkably did not play a home Test last summer due to the SAT20 taking prime position on their calendar in January and ground upgrades going on ahead of next year’s ODI World Cup.

The lack of Test cricket is not uncommon, however.

South Africa has a bumper home summer with Bangladesh touring for two Tests next month followed by three against England over the Christmas and New Year period.

But this series against Australia is their first home three-Test series since hosting India in 2021/22.

The poor crowds in Durban simply slapped Australians, watching on their couches from across the Indian Ocean, in the face with the brutal realities of modern Test cricket.

“That to me was one of the big stories that hasn’t been broadcast enough,” former Australian Test captain Mark Taylor told nine.com.au.

“All the talk has been about sandpaper, and will the crowd be this, that and the other, the biggest story for me is how do we keep countries like South Africa really interested in Test cricket?

“They are world Test champions, but they don’t play much Test cricket, and the crowds are suggesting that they don’t want it, which is a real worry for me for Test cricket.”

Gqeberha has a proud history of creating a vibrant atmosphere with its famous band provided a musical backdrop to the cricket.

Back in 2018, the umpires even had to ask the band to quieten down at one point because they were so loud that they were worried they could not hear edges.

But the band may be lacking a few members this week with only day one of the Test – when there is rain scheduled – falling on a weekend.

Playing the Tests in October when adults are at work and children at school are clearly contributing factors.

Domestic rugby is also still be played by South African teams at this time of year, but the local governing body in Durban, who has endured poor crowds for several years, are going to dive into the reasons why their ground is so sparse for international cricket – the ODI against Australia played there last month attracted only 12,000 on a public holiday.

“It is impossible to overlook our disappointment that just under 20,000 fans attended across the five days,” Heinrich Strydom, Kwa-Zulu Natal Cricket Union CEO, said in a statement.

“A Test match of this quality, featuring the Proteas and Australia, deserved greater support in the stands.

“While we recognise that supporters face competing demands on their time and finances, we must also understand better what influences their decisions to attend and what more we can do to make live cricket an attractive and worthwhile experience.

“This is something we will reflect on as a Union, through a thorough internal review, and as a cricket community. We need to listen to our supporters, reconnect with our communities, and continue to find ways to make Test cricket more accessible, engaging and appealing to families and cricket lovers of all ages.”

South African captain Temba Bavuma is hoping for a better showing at St George’s Park, but the weather and the fact the Test starts on a Sunday scarcely helps.

“Playing in PE (Gqeberha), it’s one of the ones we look forward to. There’s a bit of a different atmosphere, if I could say that, with the band and everything,” he said on Saturday.

“I guess where we stay close to the mall, there’s a lot more excitement from people, so hopefully that excitement translates to to bums on the seats.

“It’s a Sunday, the day one, and I guess I don’t know with the weather, whether that’s gonna encourage the people’s enthusiasm, but generally PE is is decently attended. (But) I guess with the game also part of the days being in the week, that might be a bit challenging.”

AUSSIE AGITATORS SET TO PROVIDE SPARK

The locals who do turn out in Gqeberha will be hoping for a Proteas’ fight back, and the South African hierarchy believe they can deploy two fire starters to help them level the series.

Kagiso Rabada will play after missing the ODIs and the first Test with a hamstring issue and said on Saturday he is raring to go.

Former South Africa skipper Dean Elgar told Fox Cricket’s The Follow On podcast before the series began that Rabada “gets out of bed every morning” to play against Australia.

And given the 31-year-old averages 21.39 and has taken four five-wicket hauls in 11 Tests against Australia, it is clear to see why.

“It’s going to sound like an excuse, but when your Rolls-Royce of fast bowlers is not available and you have got to fashion an attack,” South African coach Shukri Conrad said of Rabada following the Durban Test.

But it is with the bat where the hosts need more of a rocket.

Australian great Mark Waugh blasted the South Africans on day five of the first Test, saying on Kayo Sports “they all average 35. They don’t have a world-class batsman”.

Waugh may be right, but South Africa have called up another batter, who like Aiden Markram, can get under the skin of the Australians.

Markram does so with his phenomenal record against the men in baggy greens – average 60.66 against Australia with three centuries, nearly 25 runs higher than his career mark.

While the recalled Matthew Breetzke, who has scored only 14 runs in three Test innings but has an excellent ODI average of 58.73 from 16 innings, has ruffled feathers a little more with his actions on the field.

In the ODI series before the Tests, scored a classy century in Durban but riled up the Australians when he pinched a single after a throw into the stumps ricocheted off him.

The action went against what is traditionally custom of not running once the ball has hit a batter, but Conrad said the fact Breetzke is a fighter was one of the reasons he replaced the axed Tristan Stubbs in South Africa’s 17-man squad.

“The attitude and character that Matt brings and has, I think that will go a long way,” he said.

The hosts will also make a change behind the stumps with Kyle Verreynne dropped and opener Ryan Rickelton to slide down the order, and take the gloves.

The left-hander fell to Josh Hazlewood for 0 and 2 in Durban, and his new role will force South Africa to deploy a new opening partner for Markram.

“I think he’s a first-choice keeper,” South African fielding coach Kruger van Wyk said.

“He has kept unbelievably well. And if you follow white-ball cricket, and his performances in IPL, you know it’s still a ball coming down at you. It’s still cricket. The movements are the same. The way you glove it is exactly the same. Technically, he is very good.”

WHY HAVE AUSSIES STRUGGLED IN GQEBERHA IN THE PAST?

Cricket’s dark art has been the decisive factor in Australia’s defeats in Gqeberha on their last two tours.

AB de Villiers’ centuries led South Africa to series-levelling victories in 2014 and 2018, but aside from Kagiso Rabada’s bump on Steve Smith in the latter, all the talk was about the ball at St George’s Park.

After Mitchell Johnson followed up terrorising England by running threw the Proteas in Centurion, the hosts had the Kookaburra hooping in 2014.

Chris Rogers’ defiant fourth innings century contributed more than half of Australia’s total as the tourists lost 10/90 against the reverse swinging ball to fall to a 231-run defeat in 2014.

“South Africa got the ball reversing a mile in that Test, and Dale Steyn was outstanding. From the Australian dressing room, it was hard not to wonder how they were getting so much movement when we couldn’t get anything close,” Johnson wrote in his column in The Nightly earlier this week.

“There were questions at the time. We talked about it in our dressing room, and I remember AB de Villiers handling the ball in a way that caught our eye. I can’t say what that meant.

“David Warner then raised concerns about the way the ball was being handled, and he got himself into trouble for it. South Africa denied any wrongdoing, and no action was taken against them.

“Jacques Kallis later wrote that Warner’s six landed on a concrete slab and scuffed the ball early, and that the umpires checked the ball regularly. In the end, we couldn’t reverse the ball and they could.”

While four years later, Australia suffered collapses of 6/82 and 6/66 as Rabada took 11 wickets to set up a six-wicket victory for South Africa.

What happened in the next Test in Cape Town essentially issued the death knock for reverse swing in Test cricket.

But in Durban there were glimmers that the old ball going the other way, towards the shiny side, may be back.

Mitchell Starc got the ball to reverse ever so slightly at the ground where he hooped it around corners to dismantle South Africa eight years earlier.

It was a promising sign that the art may not be lost after all.

South Africa’s dry, abrasive pitches and the squares that surround them naturally give the chance for the ball to be roughed up and for reverse swing to take place, legally.

When done with in the laws of the game, reverse swing brings the contest to life on typically benign surfaces.

Johnson was buoyed by what he saw in the first Test, and believes it could hold the key to Australia securing a series victory in the second Test.

“If we get similar conditions to 2014, it could become a major factor again in the fourth innings and winning the toss could be crucial. And if someone happens to find that concrete slab, don’t be surprised if the ball starts reversing a little earlier. Funny how that works,” Johnson wrote.

“A swinging Starc up front is hard enough, but a reverse-swinging Starc is a tough ask. With South Africa 1-0 down, and Australia’s batting having had its own questions, I wonder what pitch will be delivered.

“Whatever the pitch, I’d love to see some reverse swing, done the right way. There’s something special about watching a fast bowler get an old ball reversing late in a Test. The batsman knows it’s coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier to play.

“A full delivery, late movement and the stumps cartwheeling. That’s the bowler’s skill against the batsman’s, played within the laws, and it’s Test cricket at its best.

“We don’t see enough of that anymore. Let’s hope Gqeberha brings a bit of it back.”