Will the Testless Summer in South Africa be successful?

The WTC final versus Australia at Lord’s in June is currently South Africa’s main concern, but they will soon realise that the summer of 2025–2026 is upon them. And it will entail getting ready to give it their all under the circumstances at home.

In Western Province’s first-class match against Boland at Newlands on Thursday, Tony de Zorzi got a century for the first time in 23 innings of various shapes and sizes. Kyle Verreynne of WP scored his first century in 20 trips to various creases in the same game on Friday.

At Newlands on Friday, George Linde amassed 91 off 66 balls, 66 of which were fours and sixes, surpassing both De Zorzi’s 141 and Verreynne’s undefeated 131.

This is encouraging for South Africa’s next home Test matches. Shukri Conrad’s current team features De Zorzi and Verreynne as key players, and Linde appears to have returned to the international scene after losing favour between September 2021 and December of last year.

The real test will come in the difficult conditions they have grown up in, but they will be able to do some of that work in the two Test matches they have against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in June and July.

aside from the fact that the test has been rescheduled. For the first time since 1970–71, South Africa will not host Test cricket for a full season next summer.

It occurred at that time as a result of the pressure exerted on other nations to isolate the apartheid regime. Prior to India’s visit in 1992–1993, there was no international cricket in the nation, with the exception of some unsightly rebel trips. The reason for this is that in November and December, South Africa will play four Test matches in India and Pakistan.

As expected, this has resulted in a lot of pearl clutching. However, the pearl clutchers ought to have anticipated it. There have been fewer than five Test matches seven times in the past ten seasons, with only two men’s Test matches played in South Africa. Eventually, the trickle was certain to dry up.

In South Africa, tests are typically poorly attended and costly to host. With its limited resources, CSA could do more than host games in a format that fewer South Africans than ever seem to care enough about to attend in large numbers; it is uncommon for a day’s play to attract even 10,000 people.

Additionally, test service will restart in 2026–2027 with considerably higher than usual levels. The only two-match series in South Africa’s 2023–2027 FTP is the three Test matches each that England and Australia will tour and play. Bangladesh will also play two Test matches here.

Up to eight men’s matches in the format have not overrun a summer here before or since 2017–18, when Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, India, and Australia played 10 Test matches in South Africa. Next season, South Africa’s women’s team will play home Test matches against Australia and India as a precaution. From one test to ten!

Some will still point the finger at the SA20. The tournament usually bursts into our life on January 9 or 10, so how dare it start on December 26 and push the Test summer aside? More accurately, South African cricket is benefiting from the SA20 for the second time in a row. The nation’s most prestigious ovals would be barren in the middle of summer if it didn’t start when it does this time, even more barren than most of them are during Test cricket days. Rather, stadiums will be packed with spectators who have come to watch some of the top players in the world of gaming.

Furthermore, it’s not as though there won’t be any cricket matches outside of SA20. The Bangladesh men’s under-19 squad and the New Zealand A men’s team will be present in addition to the customary domestic tournaments. The women’s team will play ODI and T20I rubbers against Ireland and Pakistan, while the senior men’s team will play five T20I matches against the West Indies. That makes 17 senior white-ball internationals in all.

South Africa will host an abundance of international cricket matches in 2025–2026.

No Test cricket, please. In any case, almost nobody watches. Objectively speaking, who could be upset about that? Not the athletes.

A World Cricketers’ Association (WCA) research titled “Protecting History, Embracing Change: a Unified, Coherent Global Future” was issued on Wednesday. It found that, out of 328 players, most of whom were from abroad, questioned in 2024, just 49% thought Test cricket was the main way to play the game. What’s wrong with the rest of us if the majority of the players themselves are able to recognise the truth?

If you can afford the time and money necessary to watch test cricket properly and have the desire to do so, it’s the most captivating, fascinating, and wonderful form of the game. You don’t have to have it, though.