Durban: Eighteen months ago, Nic Maddinson was beginning chemotherapy. This week, the 34-year-old walked back into Australia’s Test squad — nearly a decade after his last appearance in the baggy green — as cover for the series opener against South Africa in Durban.
Maddinson’s recall is one of the most remarkable selection stories in recent Australian cricket. Diagnosed with testicular cancer in April 2025, with the illness having spread to his lungs and lymph nodes, he completed his course of chemotherapy in July 2025 and was given the all-clear to resume his career eight weeks after his final round of treatment.
He has not played first-class cricket since the diagnosis, missing the entire 2025–26 Sheffield Shield season. His route back came through white-ball cricket — five appearances for the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League — before a statement innings last week: 126 off 127 balls for New South Wales against Victoria in the domestic One-Day Cup.
A decade between Tests
Maddinson’s three previous Tests all came in late 2016, the last of them the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan at the MCG. He managed only 27 runs across those three matches and drifted out of the national picture, rebuilding his career as a dependable domestic performer for New South Wales — the state he will captain in the coming season.
That the selectors have turned to him now, rather than a younger Sheffield Shield batter, says much about both his form and Australia’s current predicament. Chairman of selectors George Bailey framed the call-up in practical terms: “Sam gives us wicketkeeping cover as Josh continues his recovery, while Nic provides flexibility throughout the batting order.”
Injury crisis opens the door
Maddinson was added to the squad alongside uncapped Victoria wicketkeeper Sam Harper, with Australia’s plans disrupted by injuries. Josh Inglis will miss the first Test after scans confirmed a fractured right index finger, an injury that will be monitored before a possible return for the second Test in Gqeberha. All-rounder Cameron Green is also a doubt after sustaining an abdominal strain while batting in the final ODI of the preceding series.
Harper, 29, earned his call-up on weight of runs — 128 for Australia A against India A in Puducherry and 677 runs in last season’s Sheffield Shield. For Maddinson, the more obvious domestic candidate Kurtis Patterson was unavailable after a groin injury in the One-Day Cup, and the selectors preferred experience for a high-stakes series opener.
Not everyone is convinced
The selection has divided opinion. Former opener Matthew Hayden publicly questioned the call, pointing out that Maddinson has not played first-class cricket since early 2025 and that his Test record — 27 runs in three matches — hardly demands a recall for such an important series.
It is a fair cricketing debate, and one the selectors have answered with a bet on character and versatility. Maddinson is viewed as a flexible middle-order option rather than a specialist opener, and his 126 against Victoria — compiled at better than a run a ball — was the kind of innings that forces selectors to take notice regardless of format.
What comes next
Whether Maddinson actually plays in Durban remains to be seen; he and Harper are officially cover, in contention rather than inked into the XI. But his presence in the squad is already a victory of a different kind — the completion of a journey from a cancer ward to the edge of Test selection in eighteen months.
The first Test begins at Kingsmead on Friday, October 9, the first meeting between the sides in South Africa since the infamous 2018 tour. For Maddinson, simply being in the touring party, in whites, with a decade of waiting behind him, is a story that transcends team sheets.