There was massive hype ahead of the first Test between South Africa and Australia at Kingsmead in Durban. There were reasons. This was Australia’s first Test tour of South Africa since the Sandpapergate in 2018. Cameron Bancroft, in complicity with then captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner, used sandpaper to tamper with the ball so as to assist pacers with reverse swing in the third and final Test. Unfortunately for them and the entire Aussie team, he was caught on camera, and all hell broke loose thereafter. The three players were banned for varied durations.
The whole controversy was discussed at length in the global media ahead of the Kingsmead showdown. The Aussies were expected to get hell from spectators on Friday; however, many of us watching the game on TV were left stunned when empty stands and open grass banks greeted Pat Cummins and Temba Bavuma as they walked out for the toss. That was such a downer.
Two of the best teams in international cricket — the finalists in the World Test Championship last year — were in action, and fans didn’t bother to show up. On the eve of the match, Bavuma had said that he was going to celebrate their WTC final win over Australia with his local supporters at Durban. He was really looking forward to the opening day!
Maddinson’s ordeal
Then, injury cover Nic Maddinson, who beat testicular cancer last year, was chosen to open the innings after Cummins won the toss and decided to have a bat. The 34-year-old last played a Test match way back in December 2016. Not just that, he played his last first-class game last year in March. In the lead-up to the game, questions were raised about how such a player with no great credentials made it to the squad, even as an injury replacement. Questions persisted after he made it to the Playing XI: how he made it to the Playing XI ahead of Cooper Connolly, considered highly promising and heavily backed by selector George Bailey.
Days before the opening day, Australia great Matthew Hayden had questioned Maddinson’s inclusion using very harsh words. Another former Aussie player, Mitchell Johnson, in his column for the West Australian, made his point quite clear that if Cameron Green was going to miss the first Test on account of an abdominal strain — which eventually happened — Maddinson shouldn’t be preferred over Connolly or Matt Renshaw.
Against such a backdrop, Maddinson had a horror outing. He played 33 balls but all he got was a duck as he played on off a Marco Jansen delivery. After losing their openers cheaply, Australia looked to their seasoned batters Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to bail them out but after adding 60, both departed in successive overs. If not for an unbeaten 63-run stand between Renshaw and Cummins, things could have been totally disastrous for the visitors as bad light brought a premature end to the day’s play. Only 65.2 overs could be bowled as the Aussies found themselves at 187/6 at stumps. As per the new guidelines, teams can now use the pink ball in such scenarios in daytime Tests but that agreement has to be prior, not when it gets dark.
Things didn’t change much on day two either in terms of the crowd presence and the weather conditions towards the end but on the field of play – from an Aussie point of view, that is – Renshaw scored his first Test ton in almost 10 years and took the visitors to 390. The Proteas, in their reply, were 27/1 at stumps.
