Marsh to lead Aussies in first ODI as tourists balance key assets
A public-holiday ODI, two white-ball heavyweights with a history of epic contests, and some of Australia and South Africa’s best cricketers on show.
For all that, there is a sense Durban’s first of two series openers in 16 days comes with much attention already on the second.
Both the expected 50-over reunion of new-ball kings Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, and the careful management of two other all-format cogs, Pat Cummins and Cameron Green, underscore how preparations for Kingsmead’s anticipated first Test next month remain Australian priority No.1 going into the curtain-raising ODI.
Mitch Marsh’s confirmation that Cummins will not play on Thursday meant it was him – and not the official ODI captain – who ventured to a hotel pool overlooking the Umhlanga Rocks Lighthouse with counterpart Temba Bavuma on match eve.
Mitch Marsh reported for pre-game captaincy duties // Tama Stockley (CA)
“Pat’s main focus is the Test group, and a lot of our bowlers – and him in particular – are preparing for that Test series,” Marsh told reporters in a quaint wood-panelled reading room set back from Durban’s 25,000-seat stadium. “I’m hopeful that he’ll feature in this series at some stage.”
Cummins’ situation – and whether he will captain the team when he plays, to which Marsh said only, “I guess we’ll find out when he plays” – was only marginally more clear than Green’s.
The allrounder trained strongly on Tuesday as he manages a bad shoulder but has not yet appeared to bowl flat out since arriving in Africa.
After missing all three one-dayers against Zimbabwe last week, he could play as a batter only against the Proteas as medicos carefully build his bowling loads up. His fitness for the Test series has become even more important following his star turn against Bangladesh last month.
Plucked from the Australia A tour in India, Jack Edwards could make his ODI debut as soon as Thursday given the deluge of rain the east-coastal region received before the Aussies arrived is said to have given the Kingsmead strip a tacky edge.
Alex Carey, who practiced his wicketkeeping with red balls on the outfield before hitting white ones in the nets on Wednesday, shapes as a possible fall guy if one of Green or Edwards plays. Ollie Peake would be an unluckier omission if both were picked. Edwards batting at No.8 instead of a specialist third seamer is another option.
“He’s just building from a sore shoulder,” Marsh said of Green. “But expecting him to play a role in this series at some stage … unaware (if he will bowl) yet.
“We think a fast-bowling allrounder is going to be important for these games. Obviously, with Billy (Stanlake, who suffered a side strain against Zimbabwe) going out and Cameron coming back from a sore shoulder, we wanted that cover.”
Bavuma meanwhile wistfully conceded his team does not have the luxury of managing their players in the same manner given South Africa are burning through fast bowlers like boerewors on a braai even before their international summer has begun.
Five of their leading fast bowlers, including Test spearheads Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, have gone down and their stocks are diminished further to begin the series.
Aiden Markram, player of the match in last year’s World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord’s, is only available for the second and third games in Johannesburg and Potchefstroom.
“As a South African team, we build it around our fast bowlers,” Bavuma said when asked about his dwindling seam options after 20-year-old Kwena Maphaka became the latest to be confirmed with a series-ending hamstring injury.
“We want teams when they come here to South Africa to know that they’re going to have to deal with our fast bowlers. That’s part of our DNA. You need you need those guys fit and ready to go. There’s that imperative.
“KG (Rabada), Lungi – those are not guys that you can just replace at the drop of the of the hat.
“Obviously you want your best players at your disposal all the time, as realistic or unrealistic as that may be. We are working tirelessly to identify and define the problems that we that we have.
“It is concerning. I don’t think we shy away from that. But we are working together to see where is it that we can be a lot better in terms of managing the players.”
Injury-hit SA must make most of dwindling pace stocks: Bavuma
Even if Sunday’s Springboks rugby Test against the Wallabies in Perth has appeared of greater concern to many Durbanites this week, a sellout crowd was expected for South Africa’s first ODI since December last year (excluding a recent series against Namibia in which they fielded a virtual A team) being held on Heritage Day, honouring the country’s cultural diversity.
And leaving aside those who will not be playing, the prospect of the two rivals meeting in a 50-over contest 12 months out from an African World Cup is certain not to be a let-down.
The city’s rising humidity means it would be a surprise if the toss-winning captain did not bowl first although the strip cut for the ground’s first ODI since 2020 was closer to its eastern side, which could reduce that side’s already short square boundary to a sub-60-metre one.
Durban’s average ODI first-innings winning score is 271. While no ODI has been played in September before, Australia enjoyed batter-friendly conditions on their last trip here for three T20Is in 2023 when they chased 168 (in 14.5 overs) and 191 (in 17.5) in the second and matches after spanking 6-226 in the first.
“If I reflect on my personal career, playing white-ball cricket in South Africa is some of the funnest I’ve played,” said Marsh, who holds fond memories playing in particular in Durban after scoring 96 in Australia’s Test win here in 2018. “Hard fought, great crowds – we love playing against South Africa.”
Still, Bavuma, even with the weight of the current injury crisis, all but admitted he had dreamt about leading his country in a home Test for the first time since the Proteas’ Lord’s WTC final triumph last year.
“It’s very hard not to find yourself speaking about the Test series, even though you’re within the ODI space,” said Bavuma. “It’s about controlling those emotions for when that time comes.
“I think both teams fully fit having their best players will allow for a proper game of cricket to be to be had.”
Qantas tour of South Africa 2026
All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket
First ODI: September 24, Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, 6pm AEST (10am local)
Second ODI: September 27, Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, 6pm AEST (10am local)
Third ODI: September 30, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, 9:30pm AEST (D/N, 1:30pm local)
South Africa ODI squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Duan Jansen, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Nqobani Mokoena, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs
Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Marsh, Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Joel Davies, Jack Edwards, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa