The first of three ODI matches between SA and Australia will be played in Cairns on Tuesday.
While the main focus over the next six months will be on the T20 format, South Africa’s three-match ODI series against Australia beginning on Tuesday will give head coach Shukri Conrad a chance to start building his squad for the next 50-over World Cup, according to spin bowler Keshav Maharaj.
The Proteas have played two T20 series since Conrad took over as national limited overs coach earlier this year, including a narrow 2-1 defeat to hosts Australia in a three-match campaign which concluded at the weekend.
And though the next T20 World Cup is in India and Sri Lanka early next year, and the next 50-over World Cup is only in 2027, Maharaj felt Conrad’s first ODI series in charge of the Proteas would be useful for the new coach to start looking ahead.
“It’s an opportunity to try combinations so that probably by next year, I would assume, you’ll have a better and clearer understanding of the 2027 landscape towards a squad,” Maharaj said on Sunday.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity. I think it’s always nice playing three formats of the game because it also tests how you adapt, and I think in World Cup events where you’re faced with different conditions it sort of negates the inability to adapt at times.
“I also think it’s an opportunity for Shuks (Conrad) to identify the combinations and style of cricket he wants to play.”
Maharaj retains T20 ambitions
Despite missing out on the T20 series which concluded in Cairns on Saturday, with Australia clinching a thrilling two-wicket victory to wrap up the series win, Maharaj said he still had ambitions to compete in next year’s T20 World Cup.
Asked if he had considered retiring from the shortest format of the game, the 35-year-old spin bowler said he was still committed to the Proteas in all three formats.
“The T20 World Cup in 2026 is a huge one for me… so for now I’m happy to play all three formats,” he said.
“I still love bowling, and until that passion falls away I’ll probably consider something like that, but for now I want to play all three formats for my country and be a match winner.”
After the first ODI between SA and Australia in Cairns on Tuesday, the second and third matches of the series will be played in Mackay on Friday and Sunday.
