Australia look to bury sandpaper ghosts as they return to South Africa

New Delhi: For the first time since that infamous incident shook Australian cricket and the world cricket on a broader scale, Australia return to South Africa for the first time for a Test series.

Only six survivors from the 2018 series, which Australia lost 1-3, are still in the squad for the upcoming three-match series that starts on Friday in Durban. The famous pace trio (Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood), Nathan Lyon and their then-skipper and now stand-in captain Steve Smith are the five that played that infamous Cape Town Test, still present with the team.

Renshaw is the sixth survivor from the series. Although he did not play in any of the first three Tests, he was sent an SOS call ahead of the fourth Test after the Aussies were rocked by the ball-tampering scandal during the Cape Town third Test.

Coming into South Africa for the 2026 series, captain Cummins had warned his side of a possible hostility from the crowd but also believed that people would have moved on. "There might be a little bit of hostility," Cummins had said during the Keepin' it Cricket podcast last month. "(But) it can't be louder than an Ashes series Birmingham, the Hollies Stand at Edgbaston, that gets pretty rowdy."

However, he believed that the dust would have settled by now, as focus will remain on cricket once the first ball is thrown. "It (Sandpapergate) was kind of really spoken up (in past series), and it was almost a bit underwhelming," Cummins said about the reaction from Proteas fans.

"Everyone moves on. The good thing is, with three Tests, you get stuck in the cricket, and everyone just worries about the cricket pretty quickly. "I'm sure there'll be some rowdy people in the crowd, and some articles or some media bring up stuff. But our group's moved on," he added.

Like 2018, Australia remain largely dependent on the above five regulars, although Nathan Lyon's role has been limited off late. However, the pace trio and Smith still remain their lynchpins in 2026.

Renshaw is likely to open with Travis Head. Marnus Labuschagne might have done enough with a century in the warm-up to hold his No.3, while Smith remains the No.4. The Aussies were hit with injury blows when Cameron Green and reserve wicketkeeper Josh Inglis were ruled out of the first test.

The fast-bowling personnel is likely to be the same, with Scott Boland set to sit out again, while the Aussies are likely to go with Lyon ahead of Matthew Kuhnemann, or they can play both if the Durban surface dries out quickly.

For South Africa, they have five players from that 2018 series that are still playing. Temba Bavuma, Keshav Maharaj, Wiaan Mulder, Aiden Markram and Kagiso Rabada remain part of the South Africa squad.

Rabada's availability remains uncertain as he is coming off a hamstring injury, and a call on his availability will be made as late as possible.

The series promises to be a gripping one, with tempers likely to flare from one camp to the other and the fans eager to make their voices heard.

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