Australia await ace batter Steve Smith’s fitness ahead of the Test series decider against South Africa, scheduled to begin tomorrow at Newlands Stadium on Monday.
The visitors have already made two changes to their squad, with recalled opening batter Nic Maddinson dropped and sent back home to play in the Sheffield Shield competition. Maddinson endured a difficult outing in the opening two matches with scores of 48 and 8, including two ducks.
His omission means Matt Renshaw will open with Travis Head as Australia continue to experiment on the opening slot since the retirement of David Warner and Usman Khawaja.
Sam Harper, who was called up as wicket keeping cover, is also released from the squad for Shield match. Meanwhile, Josh Inglis has been cleared to resume wicket keeping as a backup of Alex Carey.
Among all the changes, the most notable call is on veteran batter Steve Smith, whose participation is in doubt after suffering a neck strain during the second Test in Gqeberha. The right-handed batter will need to get through a complete net session on Monday in a bid to play in the final match. Smith only batted for 15 minutes against side-arm throws from Michael Di Venuto.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald also talked about Steve Smith’s inclusion in the line-up amid injury concerns.
“We feel like it’s going to be a pretty steep progression in terms of [whether] he should be available. But if we’re surprised today, you’ll see that play out,” he said.
Smith’s omission will likely help Marnus Labuschagne retain his place in the side with a spotlight on his role in the team due to form slump.