'Rowdy' Durban to greet Aussies but no animosity with SA

Mitchell Starc insists he is ready for any hostilities that come his way in Australia's South Africa tour-opener in Durban this week, but suggested there will be "no animosity" between the rivals when they return to Kingsmead for the first Test.

Plenty has changed since Starc last played at the grass-terraced ground on the country's east coast where the Quinton de Kock-David Warner stairwell confrontation proved the tip of the iceberg in a confrontational 2018 campaign.

Even at the time, Starc's reverse-swinging nine-wicket haul in that first Test was overshadowed by a sequence of standoffs between two sides that, at the time, had considerable beef with each other.

Eight years on, the 36-year-old returns as the standout bowler in a more mellow team. He looks set to lead Australia's attack not only in Thursday's first ODI, but also in the opening Test back in Durban on October 9.

After a lengthy centre-wicket bowling spell alongside Josh Hazlewood on Tuesday morning, the 445-Test wicket, dual ODI World Cup-winning paceman stressed relations between the southern hemisphere powerhouses had thawed.

That's despite his expectation that Kingsmead's notorious Castle Corner will prove more hostile than its Harare namesake, which welcomed the visiting Australians with considerable cheer on the first leg of their African trip.

"I might have big ears, but I know how to switch them off," a grinning Starc, who missed last week's 3-0 ODI series sweep over Zimbabwe, told cricket.com.au.

"I do remember down at 'RSA' Corner down there – there's no responsible service (of alcohol) down there – they can get rowdy, which you expect from away tours. No doubt there'll be some of that through this whole series.

"Whether we see it on Thursday or not, I'm not sure, but we certainly will for the Test match."

In the past 18 months alone, during which time South Africa took the World Test Championship mace off Australia in a far-from-fiery final at Lord's, the crossover of players from the two countries on the franchise T20 circuit has been significant.

Stand-in ODI captain Mitch Marsh will be plotting ways to dismiss Ryan Rickelton over the coming days only weeks after captaining and opening the batting with him in The Hundred for Sunrisers Leeds. Months prior Marsh also played alongside Aiden Markram at IPL outfit Lucknow Super Giants.

Proteas star Marco Jansen will be desperate to see the back of Cooper Connolly in the ODIs and Steve Smith in the Tests. But in March-April he and Connolly had been the toast of the Punjab Kings in a six-game winning streak to begin the IPL season, before then playing six Major League Cricket games under Smith's captaincy at the Washington Freedom.

Matthew Wade, Australia's new white-ball batting mentor who has joined the squad this week, spent the 2025 IPL season as part of a Gujarat Titans coaching group trying to get the best out of their spearhead quick, Kagiso Rabada.  

Starc meanwhile opened the bowling with Lungi Ngidi at Delhi Capitals this year while also playing alongside Tristan Stubbs and David Miller.

"I think there's certainly no animosity there," said Starc. "I think there's two teams quite well known to one another across the franchise (T20) world.

"Not just myself, but a scattering of the other guys have played with and against each other for a few years. So it's certainly two teams that know each other on and off the field a bit.

"But I don't think that's going to detract from either team wanting to win 3-0 or really assert themselves."

One other major change from Durban 2018 to Durban 2026 will be the prevailing conditions, both for this week's 50-over contest and likely the Test series opener as well.

Eight years ago, Starc's 9-109 was facilitated by dry, end-of-summer conditions that allowed significant reverse swing to be found. It's a contrast to the "muggy and humid" heat he had his first bowl in since landing in the country on Saturday.

Severe storms hit the KwaZulu-Natal region last week, causing mud-slides not far from Durban. October typically brings more rain, which may help provide the type of seam-friendly pitches that have been all-too-familiar for Australia over recent years.  

"It's not that typical dry, baked-wicket part of the season just yet," said Starc, who has bettered those 2018 Durban figures four times since and twice in his last seven Tests. "So it could be interesting to see what the weather does the next couple of days.

"Obviously the group's been in Zimbabwe, and they were talking about how the outfield was quite firm and quite nice underfoot … It was a bit warmer and drier in Zimbabwe.

"They've had a bit of rain (in Durban) prior to us getting here, and then I think there's a bit of (rain) forecast through the next couple of weeks. So there's an element of the unknown … it's part of Test cricket and you just adapt to what's in front of you."

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