With four quicks injured and the squad full of raw pace, Firdose Moonda argues in a Cricinfo feature that 37-year-old Dane Paterson, seven Tests and 444 first-class wickets, is a deserved pick for the Australia series.
Dane Paterson has seven Test caps at 37, and he is also the most successful seamer in South African first-class history with 444 wickets from 126 matches. In a Cricinfo feature, Firdose Moonda argues that his craft and control make him close to a certainty for the three-Test series against Australia. South Africa's squad has assembled in Durban and will play a two-day intra-squad match on Sunday 4 and Monday 5 October before the final 15 is named. The piece describes Paterson's chances of making it as high.
| Dane Paterson | |
|---|---|
| Age | 37 |
| Test caps | 7 |
| First-class wickets | 444 from 126 matches |
| Nottinghamshire (four seasons) | 180 wickets in 45 matches |
| v Sri Lanka, St George's Park (Dec 2024) | 5 for 71 |
| v Pakistan, Centurion, Boxing Day (2024) | 5 for 61 |
| Series | 1st Test 9 Oct Durban, 2nd 18-22 Oct Gqeberha, 3rd 27-31 Oct Cape Town |
Why control matters now
Four of South Africa's quicks are battling injuries: Kagiso Rabada (right hamstring), Lungi Ngidi, Kwena Maphaka and Ottniel Baartman. What remains is a young core of Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee and the returning Anrich Nortje, and the story talks about the proliferation of high pace in the group. Moonda's point is that late-spring conditions at the coastal grounds lack the usual mid-summer pace and bounce, which leaves room for a skilful holding bowler. Paterson sees his own role that way. "I've shown I can play a role. And also, our roles might differ. I might be a holding bowler, like when I was initially selected. Shuks knows what he can get out of me," he told Cricinfo.
The four seasons at Nottinghamshire taught him to move the ball late. Shukri Conrad recalled him in February 2024 for the New Zealand series, and the two five-wicket hauls in the 2024 home summer came in matches South Africa needed to stay in, and then qualify for, the 2025 World Test Championship final. He was still left out of the New Year's Test that followed and the final XI, where Ngidi was preferred for pace and variation. "It's a final, so just one game. You can't cry about it. At the end of the day, it was the right call. I am a team player so I understood. We made history, so it was the right call."
The road back
Paterson did not return to Nottinghamshire over the winter and was not in the squads for the Pakistan or India tours in 2025. He played two matches for South Africa A against England Lions in May 2026, then took three months off. At the Western Province Cobras season launch at Newlands last month he told Cricinfo: "I'm available. I'm always waiting for the call and I'm always ready. Shuks knows that and the hierarchy knows that."
He now has a leadership role at the Cobras alongside quicks aged 18 to 21. In the season-opening red-ball game against the Warriors he bowled 27 overs in the first innings and 9 in the second at 2.8 runs an over. The following week against the Dolphins he took the first and last wickets of the first innings as the Cobras set up their first win of the summer. Coach Rory Kleinveldt wants plenty of him, and Paterson is planning on "two more good seasons". His own words on the workload: "I'm still waking up fine, I've got energy, I don't really have any sore limbs and it's not like it's become a burden. When it becomes a burden, then I'll know when to pull the plug." On the series itself, he said: "This series is going to be very interesting. People might think conditions are similar to Australia, but we know how it plays."
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