Dual spin still on the table for Aussies: Cummins

Australia will wait until the toss to decide whether or not they follow South Africa's lead and pick two frontline spinners for the first Test in Durban.

Aussie captain Pat Cummins said the selectors were "pretty confident" they had their chosen XI but wanted to use the extra 19 hours to finalise their team.

His counterpart Temba Bavuma revealed South Africa's side two hours earlier, with spin pair Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer named.

And Cummins confirmed left-arm tweaker Matthew Kuhnemann was still in the mix to partner veteran Nathan Lyon, if the visitors see the Kingsmead wicket as a raging turner.

"Yeah, they could definitely both play," the Australia captain said on Thursday afternoon. "'Kuhney' brings something a little bit different to Nathan, obviously spinning the ball away from the right-handers. They're both really well placed.

"If we need the second spinner option, spinning the ball away, he's done it well in these similar, really drastic, big-spinning conditions."

Another potential left-arm orthodox spin option for the Australians is batting allrounder Cooper Connolly, though his fitness was questioned when he left training in a mask, having been separated from his teammates. Connolly, the 23-year-old West Australian with one Test to his name, trained seemingly without issue during the afternoon session but it is understood he has a head cold. 

Rival captains Cummins and Bavuma meanwhile came together for a pre-series photo shoot at the luxury hotel Oyster Box in the suburb of Umhlanga, 25 minutes north of the stadium. The pair posed on opposite sides of a chess board and Cummins joked that they ran out of time to find a winner, adding with a grin that he was ahead when he had to leave for his press conference.  

Australia's coach Andrew McDonald and selection chair George Bailey had a long look and poke at the Kingsmead pitch before the tourists' final optional training session. They were accompanied, oddly enough, by Gold Coast Suns captain Noah Anderson, who has joined the squad as a guest of Travis Head.

Head later strolled barefoot along the surface, which has an even matting of browned-off grass and some small cracks already appearing outside the central stump-to-stump line.

Cummins was in the XI for Australia's most recent Test match in Durban, which served as the opener of the infamous 2018 series.

The 32-year-old remembers it spinning considerably as the game progressed, which Australia won by 118 runs after a big first-innings score.

"It was quite different conditions to what you might get in, say, The Bullring (Wanderers), where it's fast," Cummins said.

"Here it was a bit more attritional, a bit more abrasive."

Lyon is on his fourth South African tour having played here in 2011, 2014 and 2018, and if he plays all three Tests he will go level with Shane Warne (12) with the most appearances by an Australian in the Rainbow Nation. 

Cummins said the 38-year-old's knowledge of conditions will be important and that he looked "back to his best" during the Mackay Test victory over Bangladesh. Lyon has 28 wickets at an average of 38.75 in South Africa.

After a frustrating 12 months that saw his only match for Australia being the Adelaide Ashes Test, Cummins says his body is feeling "great", with no niggles to speak of. He played both Tests against Bangladesh in August, and since landing in South Africa has bowled five overs in the rain-affected third ODI and eight overs against the Cricket South Africa Invitational XI in Potchefstroom last week.

With a packed schedule over the next 10 months, with 18 (or 19 if they qualify for the WTC final) Tests to come, the skipper said he was delighted to have no concerns over his body.

"Physically I feel really fresh. I feel great," Cummins said. "We had a day in the field in 'Potch', I think that was good. I feel better for that.

"A lot of our last nine months of planning (has been) for this series, essentially.

"I feel I couldn't be any better placed, and (I) don't need to worry about my back or how many overs I'm bowling or anything like that.

"In previous years you're fighting a tight hamstring or a sore ankle. I've got none of that at the moment, so I daresay that won't be the case if I play a lot of these Test matches."  

Qantas tour of South Africa 2026

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

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