Dewald Brevis was a notable omission from South Africa’s test squad for the upcoming three-match Test series against Australia, which is the first series in the rainbow nation since the infamous 2019 tour.
It is also the first time the Proteas will play Test cricket since they whitewashed India in India in November last year.
Brevis was part of the squad that travelled to India but, despite not playing either game, was dropped from the squad. The Proteas’ head coach, Sukhri Conrad, compared the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) star to Rafael Nadal and labelled the Tennis legend as a ‘clay court specialist.’ He claimed that the team management see Brevis as a player for subcontinent conditions in Test cricket.
“It’s a long summer, so I am sure we will see [Brevis] at some stage. The blunt answer is that I don’t think he is one of the best batters in Test cricket for us. I think there are other guys for us in South African conditions. Brevis is probably more suited to us playing in Test cricket in the subcontinent.
“ODI cricket is a different story. You will see him at some stage. In Tests, he is a bit of a Rafael Nadal. He is a clay-court specialist,” said Conrad in a media interaction after the squad was announced by CSA.
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While Nadal is unarguably the greatest clay-court player in Tennis history with 14 French Open titles to his name, he was never a specialist on those courts, having won four US Opens as well as two Australian Opens on hard court. He also lifted the Wimbledon title twice on grass courts, including in 208 wthen he ended Roger Federer’s dominance after an all-time classic summit clash at Centre Court.
As far as Brevis is concerned, he has played four Test matches and scored just 168 runs at an average of 23 with two half-centuries. He was also dropped from the ODI squad for the ongoing series against the Australians.
The series is a vital one for both teams in their hopes of making the 2027 World Test Championship (WTC) final. As things stand, they occupy the top two spots after facing each other in the 2025 final.