Potential teams for South Africa and Australia in WTC Final

By Jonathan Healy

With just over two months until the ICC World Test Championship Final at Lord's, South Africa and Australia will be deep in thought formulating their plans on how best to claim victory in the one-off match.

While both teams have reasonably settled squads, the make-up of their final XIs are likely to only be determined once the sides arrive at Lord's and get the chance to peruse the pitch that will be used and see what London's early summer weather has to offer.

We take a look at what both teams might look like for the eagerly-awaited battle for the mace and the questions that need to be answered before the first ball is bowled in north London on June 11.

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South Africa

Potential South Africa XI: Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada

Other options: Dane Paterson, Wiaan Mulder, Corbin Bosch, Kwena Maphaka, Matthew Breetzke, Keegan Petersen, Senuran Muthusamy

South Africa's top six looks relatively settled, with Tony de Zorzi's recent Player of the Match performance for Western Province putting him in the box seat to partner experienced opener Aiden Markram in a strong batting line-up.

Skipper Temba Bavuma has been batting at No.5 in recent Tests and will likely continue in this role to provide stroke-maker Tristan Stubbs every opportunity to shine coming in one spot earlier at No.4.

The luxury of having star all-rounder Marco Jansen come in at No.8 provides the Proteas with extra depth to their batting and the tall left-armer will form a dangerous fast bowling attack alongside pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada.

With first-choice spinner Keshav Maharaj all but certain to lead the Proteas' spin attack at Lord's, there will be much debate surrounding who earns the spot as third seamer to provide support to Rabada and Jansen.

Fiery right-armer Gerald Coetzee could be in contention if he can overcome his recent injury concerns, while selectors might opt for young southpaw Kwena Maphaka if they want to hit Australia with a pure pace barrage.

The other option would be to take a chance on 30-year-old all-rounder Corbin Bosch, who starred against Pakistan in December in his only Test appearance when he took four wickets in the first innings and contributed an unbeaten 81 with the bat coming in at No.9.

The Aussies won't have seen much of Bosch, so the confident right-armer could prove a shrewd left-field choice for selectors. Anrich Nortje would also come into consideration if he decided to return to the Test fold.

Australia

Potential Australia XI: Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

Other options: Josh Inglis, Scott Boland, Beau Webster, Cooper Connolly, Nathan McSweeney, Matthew Kuhnemann

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Australia also appear in pretty good shape heading into the one-off Test, with perhaps only one or two spots in their final XI up for grabs.

With star batter Travis Head likely to drop back to his preferred position at No.5 following a brief foray as opener during the recent tour of Sri Lanka, there is every chance teenager Sam Konstas will get the chance to partner veteran opener Usman Khawaja and take the attack to the Proteas and their fearsome bowling attack.

The Aussies will be hoping to have Cameron Green back in their line-up at No.6 for the Lord's clash and the 25-year-old looks likely to win this role if he can prove he has recovered sufficiently from recent back surgery.

Josh Inglis and Beau Webster have done nothing wrong and will be waiting in the wings should selectors opt to take a more cautious route with Green, while youngster Cooper Connolly and back-up batter Nathan McSweeney are other options if injury hits the Aussies' top six.

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It could be a head-to-head battle between Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland for the role of third pacer in Australia's line-up and both seamers have a strong case for selection.

Hazlewood has a decent record at Lord's having picked up five wickets in his most recent Test at the iconic venue during the 2023 Ashes series, while Boland did a superb job when filling in for Hazlewood against India in the 2023 World Test Championship Final and is coming off 10 wickets for the match in his last Test appearance.

It's perhaps a good spot for selectors to be in and either option appears a strong one and could provide Australia with a slight edge in the bowling department.