South Africa coach demands immediate response from Proteas

ICC World Test Championship 2025/27 State of Play

After his side were trounced for a 214-run defeat by Australia in the opening ICC World Test Championship contest in Durban, South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad wanted to work towards improving his side without wholesale changes to the approach that has worked well for South Africa.

"We obviously need to look at how can we improve the side without being knee-jerk in our reactions," Conrad said ahead of the second Test against Australia, which begins on 18 October in Gqeberha.

South Africa missed out on a few key personnel including pacers Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi in the first Test, but had experience aplenty in their lineup. After bowling first in Durban, South Africa made early dents in the Australia batting.

However, a brilliant 190 from Matt Renshaw took Australia from 230/8 to a strong total of 390 in the first innings. In the following innings, despite starts, none of South Africa's batters crossed fifty, handing Australia a crucial 106-run lead. Australia pressed the advantage further with clinical batting in the third innings before a stellar Josh Hazlewood six-wicket spell handed them an emphatic win.

While Australia were terrific, with sensational catches in the field and accurate bowling to back up their resilient batting, South Africa faltered on occasions, throwing away wickets at crucial stages of game. This was an area in which Conrad wants to see an improvement.

"We need to show composure," Conrad added. "But the question is always, 'will it make the boat go faster if we make changes, or will it slow the boat down?', and we are constantly looking at how we make the boat go faster."

Proteas channeled that energy in their World Test Championship title win at Lord's in June 2025, during which the side overcame a first-innings deficit to eventually turn the screws on Australia. Despite being 74 runs behind after the first innings, South Africa didn't give up and kept coming at their opponents.

"It doesn't mean you now have to go soul-searching or questioning all the things we have done really well and are doing really well. We just need to get bloody better," Conrad added while suggesting that the hosts were open to changes.

South Africa's squad for first Test included the likes of Rabada, Corbin Bosch, Dane Paterson, and Gerald Coetzee.

"Will there be changes? We have guys in our squad who deserve a crack. So safe to say that might be an option."

One of those players might be Rabada, who is on his way towards making a comeback following a right hamstring injury during South Africa's winter training programme.

"Hopefully, Rabada's Rolls Royce will be purring down the highway again," Conrad added.

Conrad also expected better application from his batters.

"Dismissals in the batting sit in one of three categories. It's either technical, tactical or mental

"And if we're brutally honest, a lot of our dismissals sat in the mental. Is that an easier fix than technical and tactical? Probably not.

"We haven't played in a while, you come up against arguably the best attack in the world on a really good wicket, and they challenge you in so many respects. 

"Every time we felt we were just getting ourselves out of the woods, we would let them back in."

Series Schedule:

First Test: October 9-13, Durban  (Australia won by 214 runs)

Second Test: October 18-22, Gqeberha

Third Test: October 27-31, Cape Town