'As surprising as it is', Maddinson ready for Test return

Of all those affected by Nic Maddinson's shock Test elevation, his book-mad young son August might have had the best idea of exactly what he should be prepared for in South Africa.

"When I asked him if he knew what I was doing, he started rattling off animals that lived in South Africa," Maddinson recounted of how he told his three-year-old why he was about to fly across the Indian Ocean.

The 34-year-old was speaking from the top level of Potchefstroom’s charming Cape Dutch-style pavilion, almost 15,000 kilometres away from his Byron Bay home.

His supportive family was one thing; Maddinson himself was still coming to terms with exactly how he has ended up in contention to end a decade-long Test absence in Friday's first-of-three Tests against the Proteas, a little over a year since a final round of chemotherapy helped him overcome testicular cancer. 

He is not long removed from NSW coach Brad Haddin asking him to captain the Sheffield Shield side he was left out of when he was last available at the end of the 2024-25 season.

"When he asked if I would do it, I thought, 'Well, at least I'm playing," said a laughing Maddinson. "It gets me in the XI if I am captain. It made it an easy answer."

When George Bailey phoned him a few weeks later, Maddinson initially thought the selection chief might be seeking his verdict on a younger batter. He had been preparing to play club cricket for Eastern Suburbs ahead of a Shield return on Thursday.

Instead, a "pretty hectic few days" ensued as he first flew from Sydney to Byron Bay to pick up his passport and Baggy Green before he could board a flight to Johannesburg. While he was home, he managed to sneak in some hallway cricket with August.

"Obviously I didn't feel like I was that close," said the versatile left-hander who has not played a first-class match since March 2025, "but I still had hopes of maybe one day getting back into the Test squad. In terms of motivation, it's still always been there. But definitely a bit of surprise."

The selection is understood to have rankled senior figures at domestic level – which is of course entirely separate to Maddinson's remarkable comeback story.

In many respects, his recall follows a Bailey, Andrew McDonald and Pat Cummins-era pattern. Their preference for players who have been around the block, can slot into their relaxed environment and remain committed to their game-plans under intense scrutiny or after failures has been the blueprint for choosing the likes of Usman Khawaja, Scott Boland, Beau Webster and Matthew Renshaw over younger alternatives.

For Maddinson, after staring down a life-threatening illness, Kagiso Rabada on a green-top is hardly that intimidating.

If he were to beat out Cooper Connolly to replace Green in Durban, Australia's entire XI would be made up entirely of 30-plus year-olds.

"I wasn't too nervous about coming into this environment this time around," said Maddinson, whose first taste of Test cricket came under the leadership of captain Steve Smith and coach Darren Lehmann in 2016-17. "I guess that probably speaks a bit about the players involved and the coaches. I'm pretty familiar with most people here now.

"At my age, you've played against most people as well, you get to know everyone. I think coming in, it wasn't something that was too daunting. I'm just excited to be back here – as surprising as it is."

As a 24-year-old, Maddinson admits he was far from the finished product in his first coming in international cricket, which incidentally also came against South Africa initially, under lights in Adelaide, before two Tests against Pakistan.

"I think at that time you're trying to play a certain way, or play the way you think you need to please people, or try and stay in the team," he said of his three-match stint. "Or you might be picked because you're an aggressive scorer, but you can't bat like that all the time.

"I'm probably more relaxed about cricket in general, and I don't think I ride the ups and downs as much. I'm probably a lot more confident in the way I want to play.

"Whether at times that can be absorbing pressure, at other times it's trying to put pressure back on. I think I probably just learned the moments in the game where you can switch between the two. I'm probably more secure in the way I want to go about the game and not worrying about the end result."

It is the kind of language McDonald has used frequently over recent years. It is perhaps little surprise he played an important role in reviving Maddinson's career only 18 months after the Wollongong-born batter had played for Australia.

In 2018, Maddinson lost his NSW contract and moved to Melbourne where McDonald was in what turned out to be his final year as Victoria's head coach before he took up an Australia job as Justin Langer's senior assistant.

McDonald and then Victoria high-performance boss Shaun Graf had suggested Maddinson would be firmly in the frame for their 50-over team. He might have to wait longer for his chance at first-class level, however.

As it turned out, Maddinson was in their Shield team before Christmas, promptly blasting three centuries in his first three games. From 61 innings for his adopted state, he averaged 50.63. He signed off in his final season with a second round of three consecutive tons, taking his tally to 10. His fastest came off just 85 balls, the slowest took 175.

Maddinson had left the Blues as an occasionally brilliant dasher. When he returned in 2024, he was a more rounded player.

"When I left Victoria, I'd had a really strong five years, and I probably felt quite close (to a Test recall) going into that first summer back with the Blues," he said. "I just didn't really take some opportunities at the start of the year. That was probably the closest I'd been for a long time."

The late-season fatigue that was a factor in his slow-down could likely be attributed to his then undiagnosed cancer, though Maddinson is hesitant to use that as an excuse.

Nor does he now foresee any lingering effects of the brutal chemotherapy treatment that left him couch-bound for weeks during the 2025 winter. In his 127-ball 126 against in NSW's One-Day Cup opener last month, Maddinson spent more than three hours at the crease, batting almost the full 50 overs against a Scott Boland-led attack.

It was the longest he had batted since a 102-ball knock playing for his club side Eastern Suburbs against Parramatta last season.

"I got three months away from cricket during the winter that I spent with family and could work on getting my fitness back," said Maddinson. "I came back into preseason training probably better than what I would have been at any stage in the last few years.

"I'm confident in how my health and everything is at the moment.

"It's not something that I'm worried about, getting through (a Test) … I've been playing a lot of matches and multi-day red-ball games with New South Wales as well, spending a lot of time fielding and having to back up and bat.

"Obviously I haven't played a four-day game for a little while, but in terms of the physical side of it, I'm not too worried. Once you get into it, you adapt."

If nothing else, Maddinson has certainly proven he can do that.

Qantas tour of South Africa 2026

All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket

Warm-up match: Match drawn (Australia led on first innings)

First Test: October 9-13, Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, 6:30pm AEDT (9:30am local)

Second Test: October 18-22, St George's Park, Gqeberha, 7pm AEDT (10am local)

Third Test: October 27-31, Newlands, Cape Town, 7:30pm AEDT (10:30am local)

South Africa's first Test preliminary squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, 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