The teams at St George’s Park have matched a mark last reached in 1926, with only three of the 22 players under 30.

All 11 Australians are aged 30 or older, while eight members of South Africa’s XI fall into that category. Matthew Breetzke, 27, Wiaan Mulder, 28, and Marco Jansen, 26, are the exceptions.

The record remains the 20 players aged at least 30 who featured in the 1926 Nottingham Test between England and Australia.

A total of 19 appeared in the Sydney Ashes Test in 1921, followed by the Lord’s, Leeds and Manchester Tests during the 1926 series. A century later, South Africa and Australia have joined that list.

Simon Harmer, Steve Smith and Scott Boland are the oldest players in the Gqeberha match at 37. Proteas captain Temba Bavuma and Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc are both 36, while Alex Carey and Josh Hazlewood are 35.

Matt Renshaw, 30, is the youngest member of Australia’s XI. South Africa’s youngest player, Jansen, is four years his junior.

Marques Ackerman also joins the over-30 contingent, making his Test debut at 30.

Most players aged 30 or more in a men’s Test match:

20 – ENG vs AUS at Nottingham, 1926
19 – AUS vs ENG at Sydney, 1921
19 – ENG vs AUS at Lord’s, 1926
19 – ENG vs AUS at Leeds, 1926
19 – ENG vs AUS at Manchester, 1926
𝟭𝟵 – 𝗦𝗔 𝘃𝘀 𝗔𝗨𝗦 𝗮𝘁 𝗚𝗾𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗮, 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵

— Cricinfo (@cricinfo) October 18, 2026