Boland’s glowing performance strengthens his selection case for Cape Town decider
‘Clearly we need to be a lot better than that’: Cummins
Australia’s selectors have been left with no choice but to consider leaving out one of the prolific ‘Big Three’ quicks for the Test series decider in Cape Town after another starring performance from Scott Boland.
Picked in place of off-spinner Nathan Lyon for the second Test in Gqeberha, Boland was Australia’s best bowler, taking five of the nine Proteas wickets to fall.
Boland justifies Test recall with third five-wicket haul
He also proved his value with the bat, successfully surviving until stumps twice in consecutive days as nightwatcher and lasting 166 balls in his final-day vigil. Only centurion Travis Head faced more balls across the five days for the tourists.
It leaves the team’s hierarchy with the unenviable dilemma of figuring out how to assemble the attack for the Newlands Test. Do they stick with four seamers or revert to their standard structure of three quicks and Lyon? And where does Boland fit in – and who misses out – if it is the latter?
Fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood have formed a record-breaking combination over almost a decade at the highest level together and since the 2023 Ashes have been selected ahead of all other pace bowlers when fully fit.
It was Boland who played ahead of Starc (first Test in Birmingham) and Hazlewood (third Test in Leeds) during that series in England.
Australia captain Cummins admitted the 37-year-old’s case had been strengthened by his all-round efforts in the innings-and-31-run loss at St George’s Park.
“I don’t think he can do much more,” Cummins said. “A five-for, (the) pick of the bowlers, how gritty he was with this batting innings.
“He even put his hand up on day three to go and be nightwatchman after he had just bowled 20 overs in the day.
“I couldn’t love that bloke any more. He’s such a champion.
“We’ll get to Cape Town, we’ll have a look, see how everyone pulls up, all those things, but he had a fantastic week.”
But who makes way for the much-loved Victorian could be the series-defining question, with no obvious weak links sticking out.
As skipper of the side, Cummins’ position is safe, leaving Hazlewood and Starc’s positions as the only potential pace spots on the table.
Hazlewood bowled Australia to victory with career-best figures in the first Test in Durban, finishing with eight for the match. The 35-year-old has now played four matches on the bounce after missing the entire Test summer with Achilles and hamstring injuries.
Starc decimated Bangladesh in August with figures of 6-12 and was awarded the Compton-Miller Medal as the player of the Ashes last summer. The 36-year-old has taken six wickets at 30.83 in this series but offers a unique point of difference with his left-arm angle.
Newlands, however, has historically heavily favoured the seam bowlers, so a green pitch could consign Lyon to another week on the bench.
The veteran off-spinner was overlooked for a red-ball Test for the first time in 13 years in Gqeberha, having also been omitted from two pink-ball Tests stretching back to the Caribbean tour of 2025.
Qantas tour of South Africa 2026
All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket
First Test: Australia won by 214 runs
Second Test: South Africa won by an innings and 31 runs
Third Test: October 27-31, Newlands, Cape Town, 7:30pm AEDT (10:30am local)
South Africa squad for second Test: Temba Bavuma (c), Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Matthew Breetzke, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne.
Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Sam Harper, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (second Test onwards), Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nic Maddinson, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster