Australia travel to South Africa from 24 September to 31 October 2026 for three One Day Internationals and three Tests, played in Durban, Johannesburg, Potchefstroom, Gqeberha and Cape Town. It is Australia's first Test series in the country since the ball-tampering tour of 2018, and it brings together the last two World Test Championship finalists. South Africa beat Australia by five wickets at Lord's in 2025 and now defend the mace on home soil.
For a travelling fan, the appeal is variety. Within five weeks you can watch a fifty-over match at the Wanderers, a Test beside the Indian Ocean at Kingsmead, and a series finale beneath Table Mountain at Newlands. The ODIs also work as a preview of the 2027 World Cup, which South Africa co-hosts with Zimbabwe and Namibia.
This is a bilateral tour rather than a knockout event, so the story builds match by match. The One Day International series comes first, with three games on 24, 27 and 30 September at Kingsmead, the Wanderers and Potchefstroom. A two-day tour match against a Cricket South Africa Invitation XI follows in Potchefstroom on 3 and 4 October, Australia's only warm-up before the Tests.
The three Tests carry the real weight. Each is scheduled over five days and counts towards the 2025-27 World Test Championship, so every session feeds the race for a place in the final. Australia arrive from a three-match ODI series in Zimbabwe, and their selectors have described the Test series as condensed, with only short breaks between matches.
Australia and South Africa have met in more than a hundred Tests, and Australia have won the majority. South African conditions have a way of narrowing the gap. Australia won the 2008-09 series here 2-1 under Ricky Ponting, with Mitchell Johnson named player of the series.
The most recent visit, in 2018, was a four-Test series that South Africa won 3-1. It is remembered for the ball-tampering scandal at Newlands, which led to bans for Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. Aiden Markram scored 480 runs in that series and Kagiso Rabada was player of the series, and both remain key names for South Africa.
Recent years have kept the rivalry finely balanced. Australia won the 2022-23 Test series at home 2-0, South Africa won the 2025 World Test Championship final at Lord's, and in August 2025 South Africa took a three-match ODI series in Australia 2-1.
The tour crosses five cities, which makes it an easy one to build a trip around. Durban brings a warm Indian Ocean beachfront, and Johannesburg adds Constitution Hill, the Apartheid Museum and Soweto. Gqeberha sits on the Eastern Cape coast within day-trip distance of Addo Elephant National Park, while Cape Town offers Table Mountain, Cape Point and the Winelands.
October is spring. Durban sits in the mid-20s Celsius with sea breezes, Johannesburg reaches around 25 with afternoon thunderstorms, and Cape Town is mild with relatively little rain, though some days are windy. The country runs on GMT+2, the currency is the rand, and English is widely used alongside South Africa's many other official languages.
The tour opens on Thursday 24 September with the first ODI at Kingsmead in Durban. The second ODI follows at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday 27 September, and a day-night third ODI is played at Potchefstroom on Wednesday 30 September. The tour match against the CSA Invitation XI takes place at Potchefstroom on 3 and 4 October.
The Test series begins at Kingsmead on Friday 9 October and runs to 13 October. It moves to St George's Park in Gqeberha from 18 to 22 October and finishes at Newlands in Cape Town from 27 to 31 October. Play starts in the morning, local time, and the gaps between Tests are a few days each, enough to travel and see a little of the country.
Kingsmead is the only ground on this tour to stage both an ODI and a Test. It hosted its first Test in January 1923, and it sits little more than a stone's throw from the ocean, so humidity and cloud are part of the contest. The stated capacity is 25,000, with grass terracing making up part of the viewing area. The pitch has long helped seam bowlers, and the ground holds a place in Australian memory: in 1970 Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards made 274 and 140 in an innings win for South Africa.
The Wanderers opened in 1956 and is known as the Bullring for its intimidating atmosphere. Its capacity is about 34,000, the largest of any Test venue in the country. It staged the 2003 World Cup final, in which Australia beat India by 125 runs, and the 2006 ODI in which South Africa chased down Australia's 434. It sits in Illovo, roughly 10 kilometres north of central Johannesburg, and the Gautrain links OR Tambo International Airport to Sandton in about 15 minutes.
Better known by its old name, Senwes Park, this ground hosts the tour match and the third ODI. It is a smaller venue, listed at around 18,000 in most references, which staged its first international in 2000 and a Test against Bangladesh in 2002. Its most recent ODI, in September 2023, was also against Australia. Potchefstroom is a university city roughly 120 kilometres south-west of Johannesburg, so it works as a day trip or an overnight stop.
St George's Park, in the city formerly called Port Elizabeth, staged the first Test ever played in South Africa in March 1889, when England won by eight wickets. Its capacity is around 19,000, and the ground has long been associated with its brass band and distinctive atmosphere. It hosts the second Test from 18 October, and the Eastern Cape coast makes it a natural place to add a safari day.
Newlands, established in 1888, sits beneath Table Mountain and Devil's Peak and is regarded as one of the most beautiful grounds in world cricket. Capacity has grown to 25,000 as grass embankments were replaced by pavilions. Its first Test came in March 1889, with England winning by an innings and 202 runs. The 2018 ball-tampering incident happened here, which gives the series finale from 27 October some extra history.
South Africa are the reigning World Test Championship holders. Temba Bavuma, who took over as Test captain in 2023 and lifted the mace at Lord's, leads the ODI side, with Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj among the core group. Quinton de Kock and David Miller are in the ODI squad, and Gerald Coetzee has been recalled. The pace attack is stretched: Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Ottneil Baartman are out of the ODI series with hamstring injuries, and head coach Shukri Conrad expects Rabada to be available for the Tests. The Test squad had not been named at the time of writing.
Pat Cummins captains a 16-man Test squad that includes Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland, alongside Josh Inglis, Beau Webster, Cooper Connolly, Matthew Kuhnemann, Michael Neser and Matthew Renshaw. Only a handful of the group have toured South Africa in Tests before. Marnus Labuschagne, born in Klerksdorp in South Africa's North West province, keeps his place despite no Test century since July 2023, and this series is a chance to change that story in the country of his birth.
Test cricket in South Africa starts in the morning, which leaves afternoons free for the coast, the city or the vineyards. The venues change character each week, from a humid seam-bowling contest in Durban to the brass band in Gqeberha and the mountain backdrop in Cape Town. The rivalry supplies the rest. Australia have not played a Test series here since 2018, South Africa are the champions, and the World Test Championship race gives each session a consequence.
October is also shoulder season for South African tourism, which can mean quieter attractions and easier availability. Rain can interrupt play, particularly in Johannesburg and Durban, so it helps to build a little flexibility into the plan.
Most international visitors arrive through OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, which connects onward to Durban, Gqeberha and Cape Town by domestic flight. A typical plan follows the fixture list: the ODIs in September, then a Test-by-Test route from Durban to Gqeberha to Cape Town in October. You can attend a single match, one leg or the full tour. Check visa requirements for your passport well before you book, carry rand for local spending, and pack for spring weather that ranges from warm coastal days to cool evenings and afternoon storms inland.
CrickBuster builds Australia tour of South Africa 2026 trips around guaranteed official match tickets in general and hospitality seating, with stadium transfers, airport transfers, accommodation and flights arranged for you. Packages can also include excursions and sightseeing, from Table Mountain and the Winelands to Soweto and Addo Elephant National Park, plus meet-and-greet and fan experiences where they are offered.
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St George's Park, Gqeberha
