Live: Double shock as veteran recalled to open in first South Africa Test

Will he have a little extra pep in his step? It’s rarely a bad thing for a fast bowler to be bowling angry.

Huge swing into Head’s pads and he whips through the leg side, but only just got bat on it. It is a terrifying experience watching that.

Mulder gets an extra fielder on the leg side and keeps peppering the pads, but it’s off line and length and Head gets another leg bye to fine leg.

Another leg bye! Nic Maddinson is 0 off 22. Leg byes currently Australia’s leading scorer.

As Marco Jansen raps Travis Head on the knee, the ball-tracking replay reveals Nic Maddinson would have been out if South Africa had reviewed that LBW shout.

Wiaan Mulder gave up on the appeal pretty quickly and looked like he went straight back to his mark. Should he have pleaded his case more?

Anyway, just the one leg bye off the Marco Jansen over.

Movement off the deck plays its part again as Mulder’s gorgeous seam position and line across Head yields a sharp angle back in towards the off stump as Head leaves. Oohs and aahs but not a lot of real threat.

Head drives through cover for the first run through the off side, and Maddinson tries to follow suit but is really pushing at it and it looks a bit like the ball dug into the pitch somewhat.

A BIG inside edge by Maddinson into the pads. Nic, we’ve seen enough Aussie openers chopping on lately, we don’t need you joining that miserable party.

HUGE LBW SHOUT! As Mulder swings one down the line of the stumps. It looks pretty good to me, but Richard Kettlebrough says no. And there’s no review from South Africa!

Phew. I think Maddinson got away with one there.

Bavuma signalled an inside edge, but there was no bat involved. Maybe swinging too far and missing leg stump? Gee, it looked pretty good though.

Jansen to Maddinson again.

Whoa! Huge seam away outside off. That is trampoline bounce up and away.

And then the harsh angle back in to beat the inside edge and drill into Maddinson’s guts. Ouch. Too much bounce from the enormous Jansen to threaten the stumps, but that only make it hurt more.

As the all-rounders open the bowling, I’m reminded how long South Africa’s batting line-up is.

A lot of swing into left-handed Travis Head to start by right-armer Wiaan Mulder.

Four! The first runs off the bat for Head as Mulder goes too straight and Head clips it fine.

A lovely off drive by Head looks like runs but it kicks up off the edge of the wicket block and Temba Bavuma can just fend it down into the ground.

It’s been eight years since that overly dramatic 2018 series that completely altered the course of Australian cricket.

Chris De Silva has taken a look at every player in that touring party and where they’ve ended up.

More of them are still in this team than you may have thought.

Matt Renshaw and Nic Maddinson made their Test debuts together in Adelaide back in 2016 as part of a revamp after the Bellerive Bloodbath, when Australia was embarrassingly bowled out for 85 and 161.

Coincidentally, the games in Hobart and Adelaide were both also against South Africa.

Back then, Renshaw was an out-and-out opener, and Maddinson was in the middle order.

Today those roles are reversed.

Young Ollie Davies is making a case that he should have been on the plane to South Africa with a mammoth knock in the Sheffield Shield.

So, we know Australia is lining up with Nic Maddinson and Travis Head opening, presumably with Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Matt Renshaw to follow. Then Alex Carey and Beau Webster, followed by the bowling attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood.

But here is the South African XI:

• Aiden Markram
• Ryan Rickelton
• David Bedingham
• Temba Bavuma (capt)
• Tristan Stubbs
• Wiaan Mulder
• Kyle Verreynne
• Marco Jansen
• Simon Harmer
• Keshav Maharaj
• Anrich Nortje

Not a silly question at all, Lachlan.

It should be in just a few minutes, at 6pm AEDT.

And that’s when we’ll find out the Australia XI.

Even without the sandpaper, the 2018 Test tour of South Africa was a wild series.

Simon Smale dove deep into it ahead of this game.