Faf du Plessis questions Durban Test selection after Australia’s 214-run win at Kingsmead
Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis criticised Cricket South Africa's choice to stage the opening Test against Australia at Kingsmead in Durban after Australia beat South Africa by 214 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series on 2026-10-15. Du Plessis said the venue's recent history against Australia and the sparse crowd at the match made the scheduling decision difficult to understand.
Du Plessis pointed to Australia’s record at Kingsmead and argued that starting the series there handed the visitors an advantage, noting past Australian wins at the ground in 2006, 2009 and 2018. “For me, there's a big question mark that I'd like to put to the decision-makers at Cricket South Africa. When you have such a poor record at Kingsmead in Durban, while Australia have an excellent record there — I think they've won their last four consecutive Test matches against us at the venue — why would you start the series there? You're effectively telling the opposition, 'Let's start at a venue where you're most comfortable.' “If you compare Durban with other venues in South Africa, such as Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Wanderers, South Africa and the Proteas have a much better record at those grounds. So that's my first question,” Faf told Cricinfo.
He also raised concerns about the match atmosphere and television visuals, saying the crowd numbers did not reflect the profile of the contest. “Secondly, from a crowd perspective, Durban also has the lowest viewership numbers among South African grounds. There's all this hype and talk ahead of the first Test between South Africa and Australia, an iconic series, with Australia returning for the first time since 2018. Yet, there's no crowd. You look at the television and think, 'That's not good, man. I don't want to see that. I want to see a packed stadium watching this big series',” Faf added.
On the field, Australia's victory was underpinned by Matt Renshaw's batting and Josh Hazlewood's bowling. Renshaw scored 190 in the first innings and 82 in the second, while Hazlewood took six wickets in South Africa's final innings to secure the 214-run win.
The article notes differing historical head-to-head records across South African venues, with Australia having won 10 of the 14 Tests played against South Africa in Cape Town. Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) is cited as the only South African venue where the Proteas have a winning record against Australia, and at St George's Park South Africa have won four of seven Tests versus Australia's three victories.
South Africa's batting was described as having struggled to withstand Australia's attack in Durban, a factor the piece says increases the need for a stronger response in the remaining matches of the series. The scheduling debate has been amplified by Australia's status as a leading touring side and by the manner of the first-Test defeat.
The second Test is scheduled to be played in Gqeberha, with the third set for Cape Town; South Africa must now seek a response in those remaining fixtures after falling 1-0 behind in the three-match series.