Shukri Conrad Recalls Anrich Nortjé to South Africa Test Squad Ahead of Australia Series
South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad has opened the door for fast bowler Anrich Nortjé to make a high-profile return to the Test arena after naming him in an 18-player preliminary squad for the upcoming series opener against Australia at Kingsmead on October 9.
Nortjé has not featured in any of South Africa's last 20 Test matches, with his previous red-ball outing dating back to a clash against the West Indies at Centurion in early 2023. In March 2024, the fiery speedster opted out of a Cricket South Africa (CSA) national contract to focus primarily on white-ball cricket and manage his heavy injury workload.
Addressing reporters, Conrad revealed that conversations regarding Nortjé's availability had been ongoing behind the scenes for several months.
“I didn’t have to say much,” Conrad said. “Ana and I have been in conversation for a while. He indicated as early as the T20 World Cup that he’d still want to be available for all formats. So we thought this is a great opportunity to get him involved as early as possible and be able to assess exactly where he is. It’s great to have someone of his calibre and pace — more importantly — available to us. We’ll monitor him and make decisions based on that.”
Managing Workloads and Conditioning
Since his last first-class appearance, Nortjé has played 104 white-ball games, bowling a total of 380.1 overs at an average of roughly 22 deliveries per fixture. Transitioning from short spells back into the grueling demands of five-day cricket will require strict physical monitoring.
“Ana is as pedantic and as professional as they come,” Conrad emphasized. “I’ve got spreadsheets detailing all of the work he’s done. He’s kept us in the loop. We’ve got to measure the intensity of that work against the loads and the intensity at which international cricket is played. But we’ve got a long summer of Tests and ODIs coming and we’ve got to look at whether a Test is the best introduction back into the international fold, or maybe earmark something else.”
Fast Bowling Crisis and Rabada Concerns
Nortjé's potential recall arrives amid a string of hamstring injuries plaguing the Proteas' pace attack. Key seamers Lungi Ngidi, Kwena Maphaka, Ottneil Baartman, and Lutho Sipamla have all been sidelined, while lead bowler Kagiso Rabada is facing his own fitness race.
Rabada is the only member among that injured contingent included in the 18-man group, with team management set to trim the squad down to 15 ahead of the opening Test.
“There are some clever people around who are a lot smarter than I am when it comes to science and data and all the rest of it,” Conrad explained regarding Rabada's condition. “We’ll take all of those things into account — how he’s feeling, whether he’s uninjured; which is the starting point. But also will he be able to match the intensity that’s required in a Test? We’ll give as much time as humanly possible but we also don’t ever want to make a call based on desperation. We’ll be smart about it.”
The South African squad will gather in Durban on Thursday for a two-day intra-squad match, where the coaching staff will assess the match-readiness of both Rabada and Nortjé alongside seam options Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Wiaan Mulder, and Dane Paterson.