Steve Smith has been ruled out of Australia’s third Test against South Africa at Newlands with a neck injury. He failed a fitness test on the morning of the match, about an hour before the toss of the series decider.
“He had another little try this morning. But yeah, wasn’t happy with how his neck was feeling, so had to look elsewhere.”
Pat Cummins, at the toss, Newlands, October 27, 2026
The Test was meant to be Smith’s first at Newlands since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, a return he had spoken about before the tour. The series is level at 1-1, and Australia lose the No.1 Test ranking to South Africa if they are beaten.
Australia made four changes, their most between two Tests since the 2018 Cape Town Test.
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| Josh Inglis | Steve Smith |
| Cameron Green | Beau Webster |
| Cooper Connolly | Scott Boland |
| Nathan Lyon | Nic Maddinson |
Green takes Smith’s place at No.4, and Matthew Renshaw moves up to open with Travis Head. Inglis bats at No.5, and Maddinson has flown home.
Steve Smith’s late withdrawal from the third Test due to a neck issue caused chaos for Australia, and ended a strange and sorry return to South Africa for Smith
@andymcg_cricket writes: https://t.co/UGGkZgYJgB https://t.co/sNUBClaXfO
— Cricinfo (@cricinfo) October 27, 2026
What the scorecards from Gqeberha did not show is why a neck takes a batter’s judgement long before it takes his strength.
In the first Test in Durban, an Anrich Nortje bouncer hit Smith’s helmet, and he passed his concussion checks.
In Gqeberha, the neck flared during the first innings. Smith reached 11,000 Test runs before Wiaan Mulder bowled him for 28, then sat in the dressing room with a brace on.
He did not bat at No.4 in the second innings. He came in at No.7 instead and made 3 as South Africa won by an innings and 31 runs.
On match eve, Smith stopped after half an hour in the nets to stretch his neck as coach Andrew McDonald and the team doctor checked on him.
Minutes after going back in, a forward defence made him drop his bat, kick the ground and walk off. Cummins had called Smith’s fitness the last piece of the puzzle and still hoped he would play.
“You don’t play 100-odd Test matches without playing Test matches where you’re not 100 per cent fit, so hopefully that’s the case this week. Even though he’s probably not going to be 100 per cent, hopefully he can compartmentalise like he’s done many times before.”
Pat Cummins, pre-match media, Newlands, October 26, 2026
On Tuesday, Smith arrived before his teammates and batted with a heat pack on his neck. Selection chair George Bailey hurried out of the nets, and soon Inglis was shadow batting on the pitch before the toss.
Insider Read
A batter can carry a sore finger or a tight hamstring through a Test. A neck is different, because the eyes sit on top of it. Against pace, everything starts with the head turned square to the bowler, still and level, so length is read off the hand. When the neck will not rotate, the shoulders turn instead, the eyes tilt, and the sense of where off stump sits starts to drift.
That is what Gqeberha showed. Smith was bowled by a medium-pacer, then aimed a wild pull at a wide ball from Kagiso Rabada, two dismissals that do not belong to him. Monday’s forward defence was the real tell. When the most basic shot in the game feels wrong, there is nothing to build an innings on, and no amount of compartmentalising fixes it.
Smith’s Second Late Pull-Out in 10 Months
In December 2025, Smith left Adelaide Oval before the toss of the third Ashes Test with vertigo, and Usman Khawaja was recalled in his place. Cape Town makes it two morning-of-Test withdrawals in about 10 months.
At 37, Smith has now dealt with a head blow, a neck flare and a failed fitness test across three straight Tests. Australia’s next Test is about six weeks away.
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