Cricket SA is working to finalise a blockbuster summer schedule featuring Test matches against Australia and England, aiming to release the full schedule soon. Seen here: CSA Director of National Teams and High Performance, Enoch Nkwe. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL Sport
Image: Michael Sherman/IOL Sport
While the SA20 has become something of a revelation for local cricket in the country, there’s still nothing quite like the Boxing Day and New Year’s tradition of Test cricket on South African shores.
Over Christmas 2025 and New Year 2026, the Proteas were not involved in a Test series as the SA20 took centre stage.
This year, it made a lot of sense too, with the tournament running until the end of January, a matter of weeks before the T20 World Cup began.
It served as the perfect preparation for Proteas players to find form ahead of the showpiece event.
None of that, however, takes away from the fact that Test cricket is still seen as the ultimate format of the game.
As a result, Cricket SA (CSA) is hard at work to ensure Test cricket returns for the Proteas over the festive period at the end of this year, going into 2027.
With Australia and England set to tour South Africa next summer, it means local fans will get to witness some excellent contests once more. Australia are set to play three Tests in SA, while England are coming for three Tests, three ODIs, and three T20Is.
Cricket SA's Director of National Teams and High Performance, Enoch Nkwe, revealed what he could about the schedule, which has not been finalised yet.
"We're still finalising the summer schedule. It's quite a heavy summer, which is exciting. We have a lot of content at home. We're just fitting in a couple of pieces, analysing the dates, and all of that. We are pushing to release the full schedule in the next couple of days. We're aiming for the end of this week," Nkwe told SportsBoom.co.za.
"We're pushing hard, and we're still engaging with different boards around the world to ensure that we finalise the entire summer schedule."
"I'll be honest, there's not much I can give (say) at this point because we're still finalising small pieces. There have been a lot of parts that have been moving, starting from Australia, right up to England, and after that, we have Sri Lanka."