From a certain vantage point, the health of Test cricket in South Africa appears terminal.
For the first time since sporting isolation during apartheid, there will be no red-ball action in the country this summer. Instead, fans must make do watching Indian-owned T20 franchises compete in the SA20.
The next time the Proteas take the field in whites on home soil will be October 2026, 21 months after hosting Pakistan in January this year.
And yet the Test team itself has rarely looked in better shape, with 2025 proving a watershed year.
Ryan Rickelton registered his country’s first double century for nine years as Pakistan were swept 2–0. In June, a sublime fourth-innings 136 from Aiden Markram, allied to a nine-wicket match haul from Kagiso Rabada, carried South Africa to a five-wicket victory over Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s.
And with the choker’s tag finally dislodged, and momentum behind them, South Africa are on track to qualify for another WTC final.
Wiaan Mulder threatened Brian Lara’s record for the highest Test score when he declared himself on 367 against Zimbabwe in July. In October, Keshav Maharaj bagged a seven-for in Rawalpindi to square the series with Pakistan.
A month later, Simon Harmer claimed 17 wickets in two Tests as South Africa beat India 2-0 in their own backyard, becoming the first South African team to win away in India since 2000.
“It’s been a remarkable period for us,” says Sunuran Muthusamy, the spin-bowling all-rounder who scored his maiden century in the 408-run win in the second Test against India.
“We’re straight into the SA20 so it’s hard to really take stock. But in the small moments when we’ve had a chance to reflect, we know that we’ve found a great formula. It feels like things are really clicking.”
How a ‘winning machine’ was built
The year began with uncertainty but also hope.
In the afterglow of a nerve-jangling two-wicket win against Pakistan in the 2024 Boxing Day Test – a result that secured South Africa’s place in the WTC final – there was a sense the group had reached a crossroads.
In a year when Test cricket could no longer rely on tradition or goodwill, only sustained success would keep it visible, relevant and valued.
“We needed to become a winning machine,” explains the team’s bullish coach, Shukri Conrad, who inherited a side in disarray after Mark Boucher resigned from the role in late 2022.
“With so few opportunities to play, and with the margin for error so small, we had to start playing to our potential.”
That has been realised most clearly in the balance of the side. South Africa have long relied on fast bowlers of rare quality, but this attack has evolved beyond brute force.
Rabada, a generational talent, remains the spearhead and is now complemented by a depth of skill and variety that allows the Proteas to compete in all conditions.
Maharaj and Harmer offer control and a wicket-taking threat, while Marco Jansen – the two-metre-tall left-armer who can swing it both ways at pace – provides genuine X-factor.
Most striking, however, has been the transformation of the batting.
Between January 2020 and February 2023, South African batters recorded just six Test centuries, better only than Zimbabwe and Afghanistan. England scored 38 in the same period.
Since that lean spell, South Africans have crossed three figures on 23 occasions and are now averaging more than one hundred per Test. This year alone there have been 10 hundreds, including three first-time centurions, one first-time double centurion, and Mulder’s record-breaking knock.
Perhaps most pleasing of all has been the volume of contributions down the order. South Africa’s lower order – from seven down – has averaged 29.51 this year, comfortably the best among Test sides. England and Ireland are the only other teams averaging above 20.
“We all share the responsibility and take pride in what we do,” adds Muthusamy, whose 109 in Guwahati came from number seven and included a 97-run stand with Jansen. “We’re never beaten. That’s the message the leadership group has given us.”
That resilience was most evident in the WTC final. At the close of day one, South Africa were 43-4, 169 runs behind Australia.
At lunch on day three, they were set 282 to win, the second-highest successful chase at Lord’s. On both occasions, they clawed their way back in a historic victory that rewrote a long-standing narrative of teams rich in talent but brittle under pressure.
Along the way, Temba Bavuma, who averaged 51.66 this year, became the first captain to win 11 Tests before tasting defeat.
‘Commercial priorities threaten Test team’s future’
Attention now turns to a bumper 2026.
After three matches against Australia – their first in South Africa since the 2018 sandpapergate scandal – and a two-Test shootout with Bangladesh, England arrive for three matches over the festive season.
Two series wins should be enough to book another place in the WTC final.
That prospect sharpens the contradiction at the heart of South African Test cricket.
On the field, a side has emerged that is durable, balanced and increasingly ruthless.
Off it, the format remains squeezed by commercial priorities and uneven governance. In the absence of political will, the burden of preservation has fallen to the players themselves.
For now, they are meeting it. Whether excellence alone can continue to prop up a game afforded so little space remains the unanswered question.
BBC
