The schedule for both sides is filled to the brim with series long and short, at home and away, in all three formats. But lifting an ICC T20 World Cup trophy will be foremost in their minds. A Cricket World Cup always seems to be around every second corner and in 2026 it’s no different.
Both the men’s and women’s T20 Cricket World Cups will take place, and both Proteas national sides will aim to do one better than they did in the previous editions of the tournament. In June 2024, the Proteas Men made their very first World Cup final when they reached the pinnacle in Bridgetown, Barbados, against India. Four months later, the Proteas Women tasted the same fate against New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates, falling short by 32 runs at the final hurdle.
The Proteas Men will have the first opportunity to seal silverware when they jet over to India and Sri Lanka at the start of February for the month-long tournament. It will be head coach Shukri Conrad’s first white-ball appearance at the helm of the national men’s side. They have been rocky in T20 internationals in 2025, but they will hope everything clicks once they touch down on the subcontinent.
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The Proteas Women, meanwhile, who have made the final of the last two T20 World Cups, fly over to England in July in pursuit of their maiden major ICC trophy. They will be boosted by the reintroduction of former captain Dané van Niekerk, who has recently made her return to the national fold. Her experience in the middle order could be the difference between three-times finalists and becoming champions.
The tournament will likely be the final major one for several stalwarts in the side, including star all-rounder Marizanne Kapp. 2025 could hardly have been better for the Proteas Men in Tests: eight matches, seven wins and only one defeat. Among those seven victories was the historic World Test Championship (WTC) win against Australia at Lord’s Cricket Ground in England.
For South Africa to reach the WTC final again in 2027, they will need to be equally superb in 2026. After zero Test matches hosted in South Africa across an entire summer for the first time since the country’s reintroduction into international sport, the Proteas have a big summer of Test matches to follow. South Africa will host a three-match series in the country for the first time since the start of 2022, when they played India.
This time round, England and Australia will be visiting. Australia will touch down in October for a Test and one-day international (ODI) tour, whereas England will be arriving in December for a three-format tour, which will feature three matches in each format. In November, a two-match Test series and three ODIs against Bangladesh will be sandwiched in between these marquee incoming tours.
Top-notch performances in the red-ball matches at home will almost guarantee a second successive appearance in the WTC final in 2027. South Africa is second in the standings at the moment, and there is only a two-match away series against Sri Lanka to come in early 2027 as their final one in the current cycle.
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