Australia’s long road back to South Africa is finally set.
Eight years after “sandpaper gate” tore through Cape Town and stained one of cricket’s great rivalries, Australia will return for a full Test tour of South Africa in October 2026, wrapped inside a demanding seven-week swing that also takes in Zimbabwe. Nine internationals, three formats, one simmering storyline.
This is not just another away series. It’s a reckoning.
A rivalry renewed
Australia will first touch down in Harare, where three ODIs against Zimbabwe from September 15 will ease them into African conditions. From there, the stakes climb sharply: three more ODIs against South Africa, then a three-Test showdown against the reigning ICC World Test Champions.
The last time these two sides met in whites, South Africa walked away with the biggest prize of all. At Lord’s in 2025, they chased down Australia to win the World Test Championship final by five wickets, a result that still stings in Australian dressing rooms. The scars from that defeat sit alongside older wounds from 2018, when the sandpaper scandal exploded and reshaped careers, reputations, and leadership on both sides.
Now, the same nations collide again, this time on South African soil, with three Tests crammed into just 22 days. No room to hide. No time to breathe.
How to watch from Australia
For fans at home, this tour will live behind the paywall.
There is no free-to-air coverage of Australia’s matches in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Every ball will be shown live on Fox Cricket, with streaming available via Kayo Sports.
Kayo Sports will carry the entire tour, including the ODIs against Zimbabwe, the ODIs against South Africa, and the three-Test series that will define the trip.
The schedule: Zimbabwe, then South Africa
The tour opens with white-ball cricket but never feels like a warm-up.
Three ODIs against Zimbabwe in Harare launch the campaign in mid-September. Those matches will be crucial for fringe players and emerging names looking to force their way into long-term plans, especially with a packed global calendar and constant rotation.
Australia then move south for three ODIs against South Africa, a step up in intensity and opposition quality. By then, the narrative will be building: the WTC final rematch looming, the history of 2018 hovering over every press conference, every handshake, every toss.
Once the ODIs are done, the format shifts and the temperature rises again. Australia and South Africa will “lock horns”, as the old cliché goes, but this time with everything compressed. Three Tests in 22 days. A sprint disguised as a marathon.
For fast bowlers, it’s a brutal ask. For captains, a tactical puzzle. For broadcasters and fans, a feast.
ODI squad: a blend of steel and opportunity
Australia have already named their squad for the ODI legs in Zimbabwe and South Africa, a group that mixes established stars with players pushing for permanent spots.
The ODI squad for the Zimbabwe and South Africa series in 2026 is:
- Xavier Bartlett
- Alex Carey
- Cooper Connolly
- Pat Cummins (South African matches only)
- Joel Davies
- Nathan Ellis
- Cameron Green
- Josh Hazlewood
- Travis Head
- Josh Inglis
- Spencer Johnson
- Mitch Marsh
- Oliver Peake
- Matthew Renshaw
- Billy Stanlake
- Mitchell Starc (South African matches only)
- Adam Zampa
There’s experience in the spine: Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc will join for the South African leg, adding world-class firepower to an attack already featuring Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa. Mitch Marsh, Cameron Green, and Travis Head give the side heft with bat and ball, while Alex Carey and Josh Inglis offer flexibility behind the stumps and in the middle order.
Around them, the selectors have thrown the door open. Xavier Bartlett, Spencer Johnson, Billy Stanlake and others will fight for overs and relevance in conditions that can be unforgiving for wayward bowling. Cooper Connolly, Joel Davies and Oliver Peake will look to prove they can handle international tempo and pressure.
It’s a squad built not just to win now, but to test the next wave under real fire.
The Tests: unfinished business
Australia’s Test squad for the South Africa series is yet to be confirmed, but the context is already clear.
South Africa, as World Test Champions, will defend that status at home. Australia will arrive as the team they beat in the final, still one of the sport’s giants, still carrying the memory of that five-wicket defeat in London.
Layer on top the raw emotion of their first Test series in South Africa since 2018, and the stage feels combustible. Players on both sides have moved on, but crowds do not forget. Nor do headlines.
Three Tests in 22 days. Fast, fierce, unforgiving.
For Australia, it’s more than a tour. It’s a chance to reclaim pride in a country that once exposed their darkest hour. For South Africa, it’s an opportunity to stamp their authority again on a rivalry that rarely disappoints.
The calendar is locked in. The broadcast is set. The squads are forming.
Now the only question left is whether Australia can finally rewrite their story on South African soil, or whether the ghosts of Cape Town and Lord’s will rise again.
