A familiar ground, an unfamiliar twist for Stubbs and Breetzke

Squad Update: Breetzke Replaces Stubbs for Second Test

Key Changes

• Matthew Breetzke replaces Tristan Stubbs in the squad for the second Test against Australia at St George’s Park, starting Sunday.
• Ryan Rickelton will keep wickets, displacing Kyle Verreynne from the likely starting XI.
• Tony de Zorzi was not considered for the squad due to a hamstring injury.

Context & Performance

• Australia won the first Test at Kingsmead by 214 runs.
• Tristan Stubbs: Scored 32 and 1 in the first Test, getting out to poor strokes (caught pulling Pat Cummins and caught behind). His recent Test form has been poor, with only two scores of 50+ in his last 16 innings (76 vs Pakistan, 94 vs India).
• Matthew Breetzke: Has a top Test score of 13, but his recent ODI form is strong, including a 112 in the first ODI against Australia in Durban.
• Kyle Verreynne: Has gone 11 completed innings without reaching 50.
• Ryan Rickelton: Has not made a half-century in his last eight completed innings, but has experience opening the batting.

Coach Shukri Conrad’s Comments

• On Stubbs: "Unfortunately misses out."
• On Breetzke: "The fact that his ODI form is as hot as it is gave him an inside lane."
• On Rickelton: "With Ricks taking the gloves there will be decisions to be made whether he moves down the order, or whether he can continue to open the batting and take the gloves… He’s done that before [but never in a Test]."
• On the team: "We’ve had the opportunity to lick our wounds. Now we need to make sure we turn this ship in the right direction."

Unresolved Questions

• Status of Kagiso Rabada’s hamstring.
• Whether Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer retain their spots despite poor performances in Durban.
• Whether Marques Ackerman remains ahead of Breetzke in the batting order.

South Africa Squad (17)
Temba Bavuma (c), Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Matthew Breetzke, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortjé, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne