Fri, 11 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 117, AAW 4/121
Mon, 14 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, ZIM 235, AUS 8/294
Mon, 14 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 7/148, AAW 2/178
Wed, 16 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 161, AAW 5/168
Thu, 17 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, ZIM 272, AUS 6/356
Thu, 17 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, INU 6/182, AUU 7/175
Thu, 17 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, WAU 9/238, SAM 0/58
Fri, 18 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, QUE 7/335, VIC 7/339
Sat, 19 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, ZIM 8/271, AUS 9/272
Sat, 19 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 6/239, AAW 235
Sat, 19 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, WAU 115, TAS 1/117
Sun, 20 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, INU 7/341, AUU 239
Mon, 21 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, QUE 358, NSW 6/359
Tue, 22 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 6/338, AAW 8/341
Tue, 22 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, INU 4/255, AUU 254
Tue, 22 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, SAM 7/383, TAS 8/376
Wed, 23 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, SAF 8/297, AUS 230
Thu, 24 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 6/364, AAW 9/362
Thu, 24 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, INA 334 & 199, AUA 171 & 200
Thu, 24 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, VIC 212, NSW 257
Sat, 26 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, SAF 9/365, AUS 333
Mon, 28 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, INU 494, AUU 217 & 229
Mon, 28 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, SYW 4/168, QUW 167
Mon, 28 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, VIW 8/293, SAS 7/290
Mon, 28 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, WAW 6/236, TAW 232
Tue, 29 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, SAF 4/145, AUS 9/322
Wed, 30 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 364 & 257, AAW 176 & 164
Wed, 30 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, SYW 174, QUW 4/285
Wed, 30 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, WAW 7/273, TAW 7/299
Thu, 1 Oct, 2:00 pm, Final score, VIW -, SAS -
Thu, 1 Oct, 11:00 pm, Final score, INA 167 & 9/310, AUA 358 & 4/173d
Tue, 6 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, INA 149, AUA 274
Tue, 6 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, QUW 9/266, BAW 7/196
Wed, 7 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, INU 315 & 0/11, AUU 174 & 151
Fri, 9 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, AUW 3/168, BAW 166
Fri, 9 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, INA 206, AUA 275
Sat, 10 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, VIC 244 & 224, SAM 508
Sun, 11 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, AUW 1/222, BAW 6/220
Sun, 11 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, INA 275, AUA 226
Sun, 11 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, NSW 9/500d, TAS 245 & 5/402
Sun, 11 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, WAU 175 & 8/201, QUE 307 & 68
Mon, 12 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, VIC 241, SAM 311
Mon, 12 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, HHW 7/127, ACM 100
Mon, 12 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SSW 3/136, BHW 90
Mon, 12 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, MRW 7/138, PSW 4/139
Mon, 12 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, STW 3/79, MSW 78
Tue, 13 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SAF 284 & 206, AUS 390 & 6/314d
Tue, 13 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, NSW 158, TAS 203
Tue, 13 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, WAU 246, QUE 261
Tue, 13 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SSW 3/78, ACM 7/77
Tue, 13 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, ASW 4/183, PSW 8/182
Tue, 13 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, STW -, BHW -
Wed, 14 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, AUW 2/175, BAW 172
Wed, 14 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, MRW 4/180, MSW 6/179
Wed, 14 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, ASW 5/165, HHW 8/136
Fri, 16 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, BHW 4/86, ACM 83
Sat, 17 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SAM 7/397, QUE 271
Sat, 17 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, HHW 5/136, PSW 8/166
Sat, 17 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, STW 5/122, MRW 9/121
Sat, 17 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, ACM 4/129, MSW 6/132
Sat, 17 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SSW 9/105, ASW 6/143
Sun, 18 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, AUW 8/165, NZW 2/162
Sun, 18 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, MRW 2/132, HHW 8/129
Sun, 18 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, BHW 129, ASW 6/139
Sun, 18 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, STW 2/93, PSW 92
Sun, 18 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SSW 8/155, MSW 5/158
Sun, 18 Oct, 7:15 pm, Live score, AUW -, BAW -
Tue, 20 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, AUW 7/167, NZW 8/127
Tue, 20 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, ASW 6/116, PSW 5/118
Tue, 20 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, STW 9/152, SSW 6/153
Tue, 20 Oct, 7:15 pm, Live score, AUW -, BAW -
Wed, 21 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SAM 203 & 145, QUE 238 & 4/114
Wed, 21 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, PSW 7/134, SSW 8/149
Thu, 22 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SAF 9/425d, AUS 99 & 295 f/o
Thu, 22 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, AUW -, NZW 2/11
Thu, 22 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, TAS 241 & 236, VIC 207 & 266
Thu, 22 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, WAU 339 & 9/244, NSW 6/440d & 5/262d
Thu, 22 Oct, 7:15 pm, Live score, AUW -, BAW -
Sat, 24 Oct, 10:30 am, Game not started, TAS versus VIC
Sat, 24 Oct, 5:00 pm, Game not started, WAU versus NSW
Tue, 27 Oct, 7:30 pm, Game not started, SAF versus AUS
Wed, 28 Oct, 11:00 am, Game not started, SAM versus WAU
Thu, 29 Oct, 3:40 pm, Game not started, MRW versus STW
Thu, 29 Oct, 7:10 pm, Game not started, MSW versus HHW
Fri, 30 Oct, 10:30 am, Game not started, TAS versus NSW
Fri, 30 Oct, 11:45 am, Game not started, AU6 versus ONG
Fri, 30 Oct, 7:05 pm, Game not started, EN6 versus AU6
Fri, 30 Oct, 7:10 pm, Game not started, BHW versus SSW
Sat, 31 Oct, 11:00 am, Game not started, QUE versus VIC
Sat, 31 Oct, 3:40 pm, Game not started, ASW versus MSW
Sat, 31 Oct, 7:10 pm, Game not started, PSW versus MRW
Sun, 1 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, STW versus BHW
Sun, 1 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, SSW versus HHW
Mon, 2 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, MSW versus PSW
Wed, 4 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, HHW versus MRW
Thu, 5 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, ASW versus BHW
Thu, 5 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, STW versus PSW
Fri, 6 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, MSW versus SSW
Sat, 7 Nov, 2:30 pm, Game not started, WAU versus ENG
Sat, 7 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, MRW versus ASW
Sat, 7 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, BHW versus HHW
Sun, 8 Nov, 1:40 pm, Game not started, SSW versus STW
Sun, 8 Nov, 5:10 pm, Game not started, PSW versus MSW
Tue, 10 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, HHW versus ASW
Wed, 11 Nov, 10:30 am, Game not started, NSW versus SAM
Wed, 11 Nov, 10:30 am, Game not started, VIC versus WAU
Wed, 11 Nov, 11:30 am, Game not started, QUE versus TAS
Wed, 11 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, PSW versus STW
Thu, 12 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, MSW versus BHW
Thu, 12 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, MRW versus SSW
Fri, 13 Nov, 2:30 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG
Sat, 14 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, HHW versus BHW
Sat, 14 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, PSW versus ASW
Sun, 15 Nov, 11:00 am, Game not started, SSW versus MRW
Sun, 15 Nov, 2:30 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG
Mon, 16 Nov, 10:00 am, Game not started, NSW versus SAM
Mon, 16 Nov, 11:00 am, Game not started, QUE versus TAS
Mon, 16 Nov, 2:00 pm, Game not started, VIC versus WAU
Mon, 16 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, STW versus MSW
Tue, 17 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, ASW versus SSW
Wed, 18 Nov, 2:30 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG
Thu, 19 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, HHW versus PSW
Thu, 19 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, BHW versus STW
Fri, 20 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, ASW versus MRW
Sat, 21 Nov, 12:00 pm, Game not started, HHW versus STW
Sat, 21 Nov, 3:30 pm, Game not started, SSW versus PSW
Sat, 21 Nov, 7:15 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG
Sun, 22 Nov, 10:30 am, Game not started, NSW versus QUE
Sun, 22 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, BHW versus ASW
Sun, 22 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, MSW versus MRW
Mon, 23 Nov, 1:30 pm, Game not started, WAU versus TAS
Tue, 24 Nov, 11:00 am, Game not started, SAM versus VIC
Tue, 24 Nov, 7:15 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG
Wed, 25 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, MRW versus BHW
Thu, 26 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, STW versus ASW
Thu, 26 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, SSW versus MSW
Fri, 27 Nov, 7:15 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG
Fri, 27 Nov, 9:10 pm, Game not started, PSW versus HHW
Sat, 28 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, MRW versus MSW
Sat, 28 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, STW versus SSW
Sun, 29 Nov, 12:00 pm, Game not started, BHW versus PSW
Sun, 29 Nov, 3:30 pm, Game not started, ASW versus HHW
Sun, 29 Nov, 7:15 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG
Tue, 1 Dec, 7:10 pm, Game not started, versus
Wed, 2 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG
Thu, 3 Dec, 10:30 am, Game not started, NSW versus WAU
Thu, 3 Dec, 10:30 am, Game not started, VIC versus QUE
Thu, 3 Dec, 11:00 am, Game not started, SAM versus TAS
Thu, 3 Dec, 7:10 pm, Game not started, versus
Sat, 5 Dec, 7:10 pm, Game not started, versus
Wed, 9 Dec, 1:20 pm, Game not started, AUS versus NZL
Sat, 12 Dec, 8:10 pm, Game not started, MER versus PER
Mon, 14 Dec, 11:00 am, Game not started, SAS versus WAW
Tue, 15 Dec, 10:00 am, Game not started, ACM versus SYW
Tue, 15 Dec, 3:00 pm, Game not started, SLW versus AUW
Tue, 15 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, BRI versus SYS
Wed, 16 Dec, 11:00 am, Game not started, SAS versus WAW
Wed, 16 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, SYT versus ADE
Thu, 17 Dec, 10:00 am, Game not started, ACM versus SYW
Thu, 17 Dec, 11:30 am, Game not started, AUS versus NZL
Thu, 17 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, HOB versus BRI
Fri, 18 Dec, 3:00 pm, Game not started, SLW versus AUW
Fri, 18 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, MES versus ADE
Sat, 19 Dec, 10:30 am, Game not started, TAW versus VIW
Sat, 19 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, SYT versus SYS
Sun, 20 Dec, 3:00 pm, Game not started, SLW versus AUW
Sun, 20 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, PER versus HOB
Mon, 21 Dec, 10:30 am, Game not started, TAW versus VIW
Mon, 21 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, MES versus BRI
Tue, 22 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, SYS versus MER
Pat Cummins's side faces the same old questions about its make-up after being humbled by South Africa in Gqeberha. ( AP Photo: Themba Hadebe )
That Australia slowly folded and lost the Gqeberha Test by an innings and 31 runs late on day five was hardly surprising in light of its batting calamities of 24 hours earlier. That Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen ran through the tail to finish things off even less so.
But it remains startling to consider the reversal of fortunes this quite disastrous loss represented for Australia. On day two, they were 1-0 up in the series, had South Africa on the ropes at 5-97, on a greenish pitch, and fancied a rout of their own.
Instead, in a game that lost 145 overs to rain and associated delays, the annihilation took place in reverse and a series some considered Australia's stepping stone to more difficult engagements ahead is now set for an enticing decider. For Australia, the task ahead is now daunting on multiple levels — not just to find form and the right combination of players to defeat an ascendant and cohesive opponent, but how to do so in Cape Town, with all the extra heat that will entail.
First the few positives. Travis Head, whose role as opener will continue to be endlessly scrutinised, laboured unselfishly for five hours to make 121. Nightwatchman Scott Boland, who was Australia's best all-round performer of the game, absorbed 187 deliveries for his rearguard 40.
Scott Boland's vigil at the crease on day five was one of the few positives for Australia. ( Getty Images: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images )
The negatives? Australia's next-best batsman was Mother Nature, who wiped out the first session of play and briefly raised hopes that Australia would force a draw. It didn't, for neither did Boland's patient hand inspire his better credentialed batting partners to hang around and save the day.
It is pointless to analyse the tail. Most culpable this time was Steve Smith, who in his short and strange stay at the crease was given a reprieve by Proteas keeper Ryan Rickelton but failed to make South Africa pay, falling soon after to an objectionably unserious dismissal in a game that was, from Australia's perspective, a little too full of them.
Australia was 5-219 at the time of this pivot point, not entirely written off. Rabada had just taken the second new ball. Boland, batting steadily, had just driven him to the long-off boundary with a beautifully straight bat. Smith? Convention be damned. Rabada sent down a length ball on a fourth-stump line. Smith, for reasons known only to him, decided he should launch over the fence at deep mid-wicket. Instead he skied it and Matthew Breetzke juggled a catch. Therein lay the death of the contest.
Steve Smith's nightmare shot in the second session opened the door to a South African win. ( AP Photo: Themba Hadebe )
Much has been made of Marnus Labuschagne's battle against morality, but Smith is now a fairly pressing problem too. For a long time, he has been Australia's Mr Dependable — not simply a better batsmen than younger alternatives, but an undroppable ornament, encouraged to play how he likes, to bat where he wants and indulge his obsessions however he sees fit.
Yet that greatness is suddenly fading fast, the numbers dwindling, Smith's insularity intensifying into less pardonable distractions. It is hard to shake the feeling that he and Labuschagne's overall effect on Australia's flaky batting group is a net negative on a psychological level as much as a statistical one.
A subtle but remarkable insight into this dynamic — ignored at the time — was glimpsed during the Bangladesh series in August, when Cameron Green used a post-match interview to explain the genesis of his own breakthrough first Test century on home soil.
South Africa has the momentum going into the final Test, something that seemed inconceivable two days into this match. ( Getty Images: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images )
"I was able to go back to Shield cricket … kind of a good little reminder about how I want to go about it," Green told ABC Sport at the time. "I think when you're playing in a pretty good Australian Test team, you bat behind some pretty good players in front of you and I think I probably got caught up in how they go about it. So, I think the beautiful thing about going back to state cricket is to remind myself how I want to go about it."
In other words, Australia's most gifted player of the generation to come was admitting that in order to get himself firing as a middle-order batsmen in this Test side, first he had to get himself far away from the influence of his teammates.
Green, of course, will be pushing his case for selection in Cape Town after injury ruled him out of the first two Tests. Should he be declared fit, the Beau Webster dilemma need not be as emotive as Australian coach Andrew McDonald made it in his press conference on day four.
Beau Webster (right) is likely to make way for Cam Green for the series finale, provided Green is fit to play. ( AP Photo: Themba Hadebe )
But it is puzzling to consider the reasoning for even selecting Webster in this match, in which he was never likely to bowl many of his seamers in an attack featuring four frontline quicks, was not asked for his off-spin, nor deemed top-six material with the bat.
McDonald was right to say the issue is not as straightforward as armchair selectors would have it. Like Mitch Marsh before him, Webster is clearly a much-loved team man. Over the English summer just gone, Warwickshire teammate Sam Hain spoke with genuine emotion of the mutual respect and pride Webster had created from the minute he arrived. Warwickshire duly won the championship trophy. But Webster's numbers told a less compelling story: 403 runs at 33, 12 wickets at 40. At Test level, same goes.
The most sensible scenario at the top of the order is that Nic Maddinson, a walking wicket against Rabada, will drop out and Matt Renshaw slide up. Cooper Connolly, who at ODI level recently justified the hype around him, must surely be in line to enter a team crying out for fresh blood.
Australia selector George Bailey's refusal to infuse the Test side with youth is providing diminishing results. ( Getty Images: Robert Cianflone )
Looking beyond this result and this series, one wonders whether Australian cricket can find a clarity of purpose and be as ruthless as it needs to be to avoid toppling over a cliff when Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon are finally gone.
On that note, here is a quote to consider, from Australia's chairman of selectors: "Part of our charter is obviously to provide for the future," he said. "We are very aware that some of these blokes are getting on in age, and that's why it's very, very important for them to continue to perform."
Unfortunately, that was not George Bailey referring to this current Australian team, average age 34, which in Durban was the oldest XI since the 1920s and the first in Test history to not feature a single player under the age of 30.
No, it was Trevor Hohns, late in 2000, referring to arguably Australia's greatest combination ever. Its average age? Erm, 30.
