Durban: Nic Maddinson was told more than a week ago that he would be playing in the first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead.
The team was still preparing in Potchefstroom outside Johannesburg, and the news was conveyed by the selectors to 34-year-old Maddinson on Thursday last week, the same day the tourists visited Marnus Labuschagne’s childhood home. Youngster Cooper Connolly, talked up by the team camp as a contender to play here, was never really in it.
Maddinson, then, had as much time as possible to get his head around the idea he would be playing his first Test match in a decade, having not taken the field in a single first-class game since his recovery from testicular cancer.
He has looked at ease around the team, comprised largely of players Maddinson already knew well, and has been staunchly defended in the media by the likes of coach Andrew McDonald and vice-captain Travis Head.
Nevertheless, he and Matt Renshaw only learnt they would be switching positions in the batting order on match eve. The shock of collision with Test cricket is always something else, and the reality of events in Durban on Friday was that neither Maddinson not Australia looked adequately equipped to put a substantial Test match total on the board.
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