Defending Sheffield Shield champions have added a Test opener, keeping depth and a new rookie class for 2026-27
Stronger SA stay grounded to hunt historic three-peat
In a worrying sign for the rest of the competition, South Australia's preseason couldn't have gone much better.
As Ryan Harris' side prepares for their tilt at a historic Sheffield Shield three-peat, domestic cricket's benchmark team has added a star recruit, improved the squad's depth and will begin the season with no injuries to speak of.
And while Harris understandably has grand ambitions, the instruction to his playing group has been to not look too far ahead. The squad's mantra over winter has been "where your feet are".
"We want to win three in a row. We want to win the one-day trophy," Harris told cricket.com.au.
"But by doing that, you've got to stay in the present. Make sure you play every ball, bowl every ball. In that moment, be the best you can be."
Fresh off a drought-breaking Shield title in 2024-25, SA began last season with two losses in the red-ball format, which Harris attributed to "trying a bit too hard". However, the team formerly known as the Redbacks were able to recognise their mistakes and adjust, going undefeated for the rest of the campaign.
Men's season previews
"We didn't quite play the cricket we should be playing," Harris said. "But then after three or four rounds, we sat down as a group and reassessed and just brought the focus back in. Be in that game, in that moment, in that ball."
The return of recent Test discard Jake Weatherald after three seasons in Tasmania is a boon for SA, who will now get much greater access to the attacking left-hander than they would have previously hoped.
2026-27 squad
Head coach: Ryan Harris
Squad: Wes Agar, Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey*, Brendan Doggett*, Jake Fraser‑McGurk, Matthew Gilkes, Travis Head*, Henry Hunt, Hanno Jacobs, Spencer Johnson, Jake Lehmann, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Noah McFadyen, Nathan McSweeney, Harry Nielsen, Lloyd Pope, Henry Thornton, Campbell Thompson, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Mackenzie Harvey, Jerrssis Wadia, Jake Weatherald*
Rookies: Thomas Brown, Kane Halfpenny, Douwtjie Hoogenboezem, Hayden Schiller
Ins: Matthew Gilkes (NSW), Noah McFadyen, Jerrssis Wadia, Jake Weatherald (Tasmania), Thomas Brown, Kane Halfpenny, Hayden Schiller
Outs: Daniel Drew, Thomas Kelly, Conor McInerney, Harry Matthias, Aidan Cahill
* Denotes Cricket Australia contract
Last season
Sheffield Shield: Champions
One-Day Cup: Fifth
Possible XIs
For first one-day game (v WA, September 18): Jake Weatherald, Mackenzie Harvey, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matthew Gilkes (wk), Jake Lehmann, Douwtjie Hoogenboezem, Ben Manenti (c), Nathan McAndrew, Henry Thornton, Jordan Buckingham, Lloyd Pope
Sheffield Shield (at full strength): Jake Weatherald, Henry Hunt, Nathan McSweeney (c), Travis Head, Alex Carey (wk), Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Brendan Doggett, Spencer Johnson
Players in representative squads
Australian ODI (Sep 15-30): Alex Carey, Travis Head, Spencer Johnson
Australian Test (Oct 9-31): Alex Carey, Travis Head
Australia A four-day (Sep 22-Oct 2): Brendan Doggett, Nathan McSweeney, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott
Australia A one-day (Oct 6-11): Spencer Johnson, Nathan McSweeney, Liam Scott
Inside word with head coach Ryan Harris
Weatherald returns
Weatherald returns to South Australia after a successful three-year stint in Tasmania that saw him elevated to the Test side. After forging a successful opening stand with Travis Head throughout the Ashes series, Weatherald made some significant changes to his technique over winter. Scores of 23 and 0 in Australia's shock loss to Bangladesh in Darwin weren't enough for the national selectors and he was promptly dropped for Queensland's Matthew Renshaw.
"I was a little bit worried about how he'd come back," Harris said.
"It's not for me to say ... but I thought he was pretty hard done by getting one game. I was wondering how he was going to come back from that because it was a bit of a kick in the guts but to his credit, every conversation I've had with him has been really positive. He's got the hunger. He doesn't see himself as finished from Test cricket. He knows that if he goes and scores the runs again … that he can get back there, and that's the conversation I've had with him."
Keeping challenge
Test gloveman Alex Carey has been a regular fixture of SA's side during their surge to back-to-back Shield titles but that won’t be the case this season. Australia have a bumper Test schedule coming up, with a tour of South Africa to start the southern hemisphere summer, a home series against New Zealand, five Border-Gavaskar Tests in the new year and the 150th anniversary match against England in March.
The state have lured Matthew Gilkes from NSW, who not only deepens their batting stocks but also adds a bit of competition for their long-time back-up wicketkeeper Harry Nielsen.
"Harry Nielsen's been around now for a while and he is a very good keeper, but I want someone to challenge him," Harris said. "Bringing a keeper in to push Harry is going to hopefully make him better.
"When it comes to the selection table, that'll be a bit of a headache for us but that's what we want.
"Matt Gilkes coming in has definitely strengthened our squad. I see him in a bit of that (Jason) Sangha mould; when 'Sang' moved over (to SA in 2024-25), he'd played 38 games averaging about 24, so (Gilkes) has similar figures to that. Hopefully, we can work on (areas) like we did with Sangha and (batting coach) Steve Stubbings works his magic and we get him playing a little bit better and bump that average up."
Young guns
Now into his second year as a South Australia rookie, South African-born Douwtjie Hoogenboezem made a strong start to the summer with a century against Nepal during SA's Top End trip in August.
The 22-year-old is a top-order left-handed batter and with up to five of the state's batters absent due to representative duties early in the season, a domestic debut could be around the corner.
"Douwtjie Hoogenboezem, he's got one of the best names in world cricket," Harris said.
"He's really impressing at the moment. He's one that is going to be pushing. He had a really good finish to last season and is someone that is going to push our top batters, especially with a few away.
"He's a totally different player to when he arrived. He's a cricket tragic as well ... We've worked pretty hard on his mental side of the game, and making sure he's switching off. The improvement that we've seen from him has been excellent over this winter."
Campbell Thompson made headlines in August with a stunning eight-wicket haul against the touring Bangladesh side in Darwin.
The young left-armer played one Sheffield Shield match last summer before injuring his hamstring, causing Usman Khawaja and the other Queensland batters some issues at the Gabba, and Harris predicts more game time could be on the way for Thompson after he made some minor tweaks to his bowling action.
"He's gotten stronger. He's constantly wanting to learn and get better," Harris said.
"He probably wasn't supposed to play that (Bangladesh) game, to be honest. We were a little bit wary of him being over in India and bowling and then coming back and playing that game. But talk about taking your opportunities.
"When we're trying to pick our best bowling attack, he almost fits into that now."
SA also have a trio of new rookies that have tongues wagging after graduating from the state's pathway system – batter Kane Halfpenny, allrounder Thomas Brown and Aussie U19 quick Hayden Schiller.
"There's three young South Australian guys that have done really well in Premier cricket over the past couple of years, and I think they're really good players," Harris said. "Our pathway system is really working here and we're getting guys out of that now."
Injury list
"We have (a clean bill of health) and I'm very, very, very hesitant to talk about it because I don't want anyone to get injured and put the mockers on it. But we're at full health and we had a couple of guys have little procedures in the off-season and they've come good, so everyone's fit and firing.
"All the quicks are up and going and actually bowling really well. We went to selection the other day … we got seven away, so 21 players with a couple of rookies in there, and just about anyone probably could have been picked that was available."