South Africa Name 17 For Gqeberha Test With Stubbs Dropped

South Africa have named a 17-man squad for the second Test against Australia, dropping Tristan Stubbs and recalling Matthew Breetzke. The match starts on Sunday 18 October at St George's Park in Gqeberha. Ryan Rickelton will take the wicketkeeping gloves. It is the only change to the group that lost the opening Test in Durban by 214 runs.

Stubbs made 32 and 1 in Durban. Tony de Zorzi remains unavailable with a left hamstring injury. Kagiso Rabada, who sat out the first Test, has been retained and could come back into the XI.

One change to the 17

The selection panel left the rest of the Durban group intact. Breetzke comes in as a specialist batter. Stubbs passed 35 in neither innings in Durban, and the ICC framed the change as South Africa strengthening their batting for Gqeberha.

The full squad:

• Temba Bavuma (captain)
• Marques Ackerman
• David Bedingham
• Matthew Breetzke
• Corbin Bosch
• Gerald Coetzee
• Simon Harmer
• Marco Jansen
• Keshav Maharaj
• Aiden Markram
• Wiaan Mulder
• Senuran Muthusamy
• Anrich Nortje
• Dane Paterson
• Kagiso Rabada
• Ryan Rickelton
• Kyle Verreynne

Rickelton takes the gloves

Rickelton will keep in Gqeberha. Kyle Verreynne stays in the squad. The switch frees a batting slot without shortening the bowling attack. Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy give South Africa three frontline spin options in the 17.

Rabada's availability changes the seam calculation. He missed Durban with a right hamstring problem. With Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Anrich Nortje, Corbin Bosch and Dane Paterson also named, the hosts have six seamers to choose from.

Breetzke returns to his home ground

St George's Park is Eastern Province's home. Breetzke has represented the province since 2016-17. The recall brings him back to the ground he knows best.

His Test record is thin. Two matches, 14 runs, a best of 13, going back to a debut against Bangladesh in October 2024. His one-day record reads very differently. Breetzke scored 150 on ODI debut against New Zealand in February 2025, the highest score by any batter on debut in the format, beating the 148 Desmond Haynes made in 1978. He followed it with 83.

Conrad asks for composure

Head coach Shukri Conrad said most of the Durban dismissals were mental rather than technical or tactical. "Every time we felt we were just getting ourselves out of the woods, we would let them back in," he said. "We need to show composure."

He also signalled that the door was open. "Will there be changes? We have guys in our squad who deserve a crack. So safe to say that might be an option," Conrad said. On Rabada, he added: "Hopefully, Rabada's Rolls Royce will be purring down the highway again."

Australia's injured duo

Australia have their own selection questions. Cameron Green missed Durban with an abdominal soft-tissue injury and is not certain to play. Coach Andrew McDonald said Green was "progressing well" but still had steps to clear.

Josh Inglis looks closer. The reserve keeper hurt a finger during the preceding ODI series. "Josh had a couple of hits during this Test match out the back of the nets during lunchtime and that's gone well," McDonald said. Cooper Connolly, overlooked in Durban after a head cold, is back in contention, partly for his spin. Australia lead the series 1-0.