The 32-year-old has not played first-class cricket since March 2023 but says he has spent months rebuilding his red-ball workload after years of back and hip trouble.
South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje could make a remarkable return to first-class cricket after an absence of almost four years as the world champions look to reinforce an injury-depleted pace attack for the first Test against Australia, which begins in Durban on Friday.
With fitness doubts hanging over pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada and three other bowlers ruled out with hamstring injuries, Nortje is in line to play red-ball cricket for the first time since South Africa’s Test victory over the West Indies in March 2023 — a match in which he claimed five for 36 in the first innings, his last first-class appearance to date.
A succession of injury setbacks followed, as the 32-year-old battled back and hip problems that eventually pushed him towards the shorter formats, where bowling in brief spells has helped reduce the strain on his body. In that time he has evolved into a T20 specialist, but he said on Sunday that he had been quietly rebuilding his red-ball game.
“It’s been quite a bit of a focus for me to try and execute skills with the red ball, to build loads gradually and in the right way try and get the overs up,” he told reporters. “It’s something that I’ve been doing for quite some time. There’s been quite some effort put in to try and upskill again, and improve from where I left off.”
<h2>The fire of Test cricket</h2> Nortje, who has played 19 Tests at an average of 26.71 and regularly bowled at speeds in excess of 145 kilometres per hour, spoke of his hunger to wear the Test cap again. “I’ll be very excited if I can put my test cap on again. Growing up, it’s the format you want to play. It’s the motivation when you train,” he said.
“You don’t think of the tough times in T20 cricket. You just think about executing skills there, whereas in tests, you think about the tough times, the good times, the hard work and think that gets you through some sessions,” he added. “There’s just that little bit of extra X-factor that comes out, or fire that comes out, and energy that comes out. Guys want to do well, and everyone wants to perform. It is a big series.”
South Africa began an intra-squad match on Sunday and were due to trim their preliminary squad from 18 to 15 late on Monday, with Nortje expected to survive the cut despite his lengthy absence. Since his last Test, the side has gone on to win the World Test Championship, beating Australia in mid-2025. “The guys have grown quite a bit,” he said of the current squad. “They’ve played a lot and they’ve done really well. Hopefully, I can just add on to that. I’m very keen to get going and be on the park and try to do well for the country.”
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