Ageing champions add to SA Test hype

The possibility that the upcoming four-Test series in South Africa is the last time Australia go up against several Proteas champions in the longer format only adds to the hype surrounding the contest, according to head coach Darren Lehmann.

Superstar trio AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn are all 34 years of age and have now played a combined total of 311 Tests, while 33-year-old quick Morne Morkel (83 Tests) stands alongside 32-year-old Vernon Philander as an experienced presence in South Africa’s potent pace attack.

It remains to be seen whether an historic Test series win on home soil – something yet to be achieved in the time since South Africa’s readmission to international cricket in 1991 – will prove to be a fitting Test farewell for some of the aforementioned greats.

But what is known is that the two nations are not slated to meet again in Test cricket until at least 2020 when the next ICC Future Tour Programme begins, meaning the next red-ball contest between the teams is at least two and a half years away.

"They’re special players,” Lehmann told cricket.com.au shortly after Australia’s arrival in Durban.

"It’s always an exciting Test series and it’s full on. There’s plenty of action going on the ground and off the ground.

"Those players are world-class players, we’ll have to keep them quiet to have a really good result on this tour."

Paceman Steyn is hopeful of overcoming ligament damage in his foot to be fit for the latter half of the four-Test series that starts on Thursday, having played just two Tests in the past 18 months and sustaining an injury in each encounter.

Following a near two-year break from Test cricket that ended late last year, de Villiers admitted that his workload across all three formats for more than a decade had taken a toll.

"Over the past year or so, I have tried to manage many commitments,” he said last August.

“I have felt mentally and physically tired; my wife and I are bringing up two fantastic kids and playing in all three formats ever since 2004 has taken its toll.

"Together with Cricket South Africa, we have tried to develop a viable schedule which allows me to prolong my career for as long as possible.

"This strategy has prompted some people to say I am picking and choosing when to play for the Proteas, and even to suggest I am somehow putting myself before the team.

"That is simply not true. That has never been true. Playing for South Africa is, and will always be, the greatest privilege of my life.”

While the careers of some of South Africa’s modern stars are slowly coming to a close, the end of Lehmann’s coaching tenure is very much locked in.

The 48-year-old has already revealed he will not continue in the head coach role beyond his current contract that expires after the World Cup and Ashes in the UK next year.

The former left-handed batter will remain in charge for just five more Test series – South Africa away, Pakistan away, India and Sri Lanka at home, followed by the tour of England.

While Lehmann was determined to acknowledge that each Test series is special, he admits the much-anticipated series against the Proteas is extra special.

"Test cricket is hard work," the Bupa Support Team head coach said.

"This (series) has a little bit of an extra feel I suppose because de Villiers, Amla and those guys might not go around again and we might not see them.

"We’ve got a lot to prove as a young side and keep playing well following on from our summer."

The tourists continue their preparation for the first Test with a training session in Durban on Monday afternoon.

Qantas tour of South Africa

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Warm-up match: Australia beat South Africa A by five wickets. Report, highlights

First Test Kingsmead, Durban, March 1-5

Second Test St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, March 9-13

Third Test Newlands, Cape Town, March 22-26

Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3