Australia Cricket has announced its complete program for the upcoming series with South Africa in Australia which will run from Dec 2022 to Jan 2023. The series comprises three test matches and all the matches of the Australia vs South Africa test series 2022-23 will be conducted in three different locations in Australia i.e, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. The Aus vs SA test series 2022 will commence with the first test match which will be played from 17th Dec to 21st Dec 2022 at The Gabba, Brisbane, then the second test match will be held from 26th Dec to 30th Dec 2022 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, and the last match will run from 4th Jan to 8th Jan 2023 at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney.
The test series between Australia and South Africa 2022-23 will be an integral part of the ICC Test World Championship 2021-23. So, this series will play a crucial role in improving the ICC Test World Championship ranking for both teams. Currently, Australia is sitting at the top position with 72% PCT whereas South Africa is at 2nd position with 71.43 % PCT on the ICC Test World Championship leaderboard.
Most Probably, Pat Cummins will lead the Australian test squad whereas Dean Elgar as a captain will take the charge of the Proteas under the guidance of Mark Boucher, a former South African wicket-keeper batsman. Most interestingly, South African skipper Dean Elgar made his test debut against Australia in 2012 and Australian skipper Pat Cummins also made his test debut against South Africa in 2011. Since then Elgar has made 4,864 runs from his 76 test matches and Cummins has taken 197 test wickets. Currently, Australia is holding the top position whereas South Africa is at the 4th position in the ICC Test team ranking 2022.
In terms of head-to-head in test cricket, Australia and South Africa have fought 98 test matches out of which Australia successfully won 52 test matches whereas South Africa achieved victory in 26 matches which are not even half of the Australian wins and 20 test matches were ended without any outcome. Since 1902, when Australia and South Africa met for the first time for the first test series, both teams have faced each other in 28 test series where Aussie won 16 series, and South Africa won 6 series. South Africa in Australia test series was played in 2016 where South Africa captured the series by the margin of 2-1.
In terms of overall test record, Australia has played more than 842 test matches with 399 test matches victories whereas South Africa has appeared in the 452 test matches where they achieved victory in 174 tests and faced defeat in 154 matches. So, both the teams are looking equal currently, let's see how they will fight with each other on the field in the upcoming month of 2022-23.