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Nic Maddinson has had the great escape as Mulder hit him on the pads, but the umpires gave it not out.
Then Bavuma opted against sending it up for a review and we’ve just seen replays that showed the ball was hitting leg stump.
The umpire heard two noises and thought the ball hit bat then pad, it appears that the bat hit his pads.
That feels like a big moment.
Australia 0-10 from five overs.
Travis Head had no issues with seamer Wiaan Mulder’s second over hitting one stray ball for four off his legs and driving another shot strongly, only for it to hit the edge of a dropped-in wicket and having it bounce up to a fielder.
Mulder is threatening to move the ball a bit but Head looked very content against him.
Australia 0-8 from two overs.
As first ball go, Maddinson will be very happy to see towering quick Marco Jansen drift the ball down legside, where it hit his thigh guard and went for four.
Sadly for the recalled Aussie, the umpire correctly called those runs as leg byes.
Jansen found his mark for the remainder of the over. Maddinson kept out some full balls and avoided the wider ones.
Australia 0-4 from one over.
Durban: Nic Maddinson has capped off an extraordinary return to cricket after cancer by winning selection as an opening batsman in Australia’s team to face South Africa at Kingsmead.
Selectors George Bailey and Andrew McDonald settled on 34-year-old Maddinson to partner Travis Head, while moving Matt Renshaw down to the middle order slot he has occupied for Australia in white ball cricket and (briefly) on the 2023 Test tour of India.
The choice of Maddinson to join the squad in place of Josh Inglis raised plenty of eyebrows in Australian cricket circles, particularly given he was not in the Australia A squad currently in India and that he has not played a first-class game since his cancer diagnosis last year.
Maddinson’s inclusion also meant there was no room for the young spinning all-rounder Cooper Connolly, who recovered sufficiently from a head cold to leave quarantine on match morning, but cut a laconic figure bouncing a footy on match morning as Maddinson warmed up and conversed with Head.
Australia’s ageing Test side face a defining year with tours of South Africa, India and England, and pace spearhead Mitchell Starc said winning all three series and retaining the one-day World Cup would be the equivalent of Rory McIlroy winning golf’s four majors in a single season.
Australia begin the daunting 12-month stretch with a three-test series against South Africa in Durban on Friday, before tours of India and England next year and the defence of their 2023 ODI World Cup title.
Having not won a test series in England since 2001, India since 2004 and South Africa since 2014, the Australians face one of their toughest assignments in recent years.
“It’s somewhat unusual that you play the three marquee series away from home in the space of 12 months,” Starc told ESPNcricinfo.
Commentator Kerry O’Keeffe has backed the decision to throw Nic Maddinson into the opening spot alongside Travis Head.
Some observers expected Maddinson to bat in the middle order but Matt Renshaw will move down the order, something Alyssa Healy thinks will help combat South Africa’s two spinners, due to Renshaw’s comfort with spinners.
“He’s got an uncluttered mind,” O’Keeffe said on Kayo, describing how Maddinson will handle his return to the Test arena.
Play is due to begin at 6.30pm AEDT.
Even South Africa’s sponsors are getting in on the Sandpaper Gate references with this in-store sign.
Let’s hope the local sandpaper suppliers can find other stores to sell their products during this series, as the local carpenters shouldn’t be denied such an important item.
The Proteas know they have a tough day to come after losing the toss.
“We would have liked to bat first, it’s nice weather,” Proteas captain Temba Bavuma said at the toss.
“But that being said, we will have to do a job with the ball.
“With our bowling attack, twin spinners, add some extra variation into our attack. We hope they will suit things as we go through the match.”
Nic Maddinson is making an extraordinary comeback to Test cricket after a decade, having beaten cancer to get there.
He comes into the side for the injured Cameron Green, with Cooper Connolly missing out.
Maddinson will open with Travis Head, with Matt Renshaw moving down to the middle order.
“We think Nic has really settled and he’s shown good form,” Aussie captain Pat Cummins said at the toss.
“No one in Australia has had a lot of cricket in the last six months but I feel like he is really well-placed.”
Australian XI: Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matthew Renshaw, Alex Carey, Beau Webster, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
This is the Australian side of the Durban Test.
The Aussies have won the toss and will bat first.
Australian XI: Travis Head, Matthew Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Nic Maddinson, Alex Carey, Beau Webster, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
More to come.
