CENTURION: World champions South Africa will play eight Test matches at home in the 2026-27 season, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Monday.

South Africa, who beat Australia in the 2023-25 Test championship final at Lord’s in England last year, did not play a single home Test match during the current 2025-26 season.

But they will play three Tests against Australia, two against Bangladesh and three against England in the coming season with all three series counting towards the 2025-27 World Test Championship.

South Africa are currently in third place in the standings after sharing a series 1-1 in Pakistan and beating India 2-0 in India.

The Tests against Australia will all be at coastal venues — Durban, Gqeberha and Cape Town — starting on Oct 3.

The Bangladesh series will be played in Johannesburg and Centurion during November, while England will be the visitors over the holiday period of December-January. The England Tests will be in Johannesburg, Centurion and Cape Town.

All three tours will also include three-match One-day Internationals series, while Bangladesh will also play three T20 Internationals.

England were also due to play a T20 series but it will be rescheduled because of a clash with the SA20 franchise competition.

CSA chief executive Pholetsi Moseki said the Test and ODI series were both particularly important for the South African team.

“We have made a promising start to the new World Test Championship cycle and it is important that we continue to build on that momentum and strengthen our position on the WTC table.

“On the white-ball front, our focus remains firmly on building towards hosting the ICC men’s Cricket World Cup in 2027. Every ODI series from here forms part of our preparation for that global event.”

South Africa’s home fixtures (2026-27):

Australia in South Africa:

Sept 24: First ODI, Durban

Sept 27: Second ODI, Johannesburg

Sept 30: Third ODI, Potchefstroom

Oct 9-13: First Test, Durban

Oct 18-22: Second Test, Gqeberha

Oct 27-31: Third Test, Cape Town

Bangladesh in South Africa:

Nov 15-19: First Test, Johannesburg

Nov 23-27: Second Test, Centurion

Dec 1: First ODI, East London

Dec 4: Second ODI, Gqeberha

Dec 7: Third ODI, Cape Town

Dec 10: First T20, Kimberley

Dec 12: Second T20, Benoni

Dec 13: Third T20, Centurion

England in South Africa:

Dec 17-21: 1st Test, Johannesburg

Dec 26-30: 2nd Test, Centurion

Jan 3-7: Third Test, Cape Town

Jan 10: First ODI, Paarl

Jan 13: Second ODI, Bloemfontein

Jan 15: Third ODI, Bloemfontein.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2026