Why Aussie selectors rolled dice on ‘wildest’ Test call-up… 12 months after cancer battle
Green in doubt for first Test | 00:40
Dane Heverin from Fox SportsOctober 3rd, 2026 6:27 am
Nic Maddinson’s call-up to Australia’s Test squad in South Africa came from nowhere.
Even the man himself was completely caught off guard when Australia’s chair of selectors George Bailey called to deliver the good news.
Watch Australia’s Tour of South Africa Live & Exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
It was not even the best piece
It was not even the best piece of news the 34-year-old has received in the past year.
That title undoubtedly goes to the declaration that he was cancer free last October – eight weeks after his final round of chemotherapy.
Maddinson has not played a first-class match since facing Western Australia at the WACA in March 2025.
He was diagnosed with testicular cancer shortly after.
It would soon spread to his abdominal lymph
It would soon spread to his abdominal lymph nodes and lung, leading to surgery and chemotherapy.
The treatment, while effective, hit Maddinson for six.
“By the second or third week, I lost all my hair. I was feeling pretty average,” he told the Nine newspapers last year.
“I was taking types of steroids to manage side effects, but they would keep me up at night. I’d be at the hospital from about 11am to 4pm. Then a sleep. Then I’d force myself to have dinner. I’d sleep until about 1am, but sometimes I’d then be awake until 6am. I found that difficult.
I was super drained and felt like I
“I was super drained and felt like I had to sleep 24/7. I felt guilty. I couldn’t do anything around the house.”
After such an experience, Maddinson was simply enjoying being back in the New South Wales squad this season.
The fact he smashed 126 against his old Victorian teammates at the Junction Oval was simply a bonus, but the Australian selectors saw it as so much more.
Upon being informed of the news of Thursday,
Upon being informed of the news of Thursday, Maddinson was forced into a mad dash.
Ahead of playing club cricket for Eastern Suburbs on Saturday and his beloved Sydney Roosters playing in the NRL Grand Final on Sunday night, Maddinson was in Sydney.
His passport and baggy green were at home in Byron Bay.
Instead of embarking on an eight-hour drive, he hopped on a flight on Friday morning to pick up those two essential items and say goodbye to his wife Bianca and young sons August and Wilder.
While Maddinson completed that task, his manager Peter
While Maddinson completed that task, his manager Peter Lovitt ran to a Sydney cricket store to pick up more pads and gloves for his client.
Truly, no one expected this to happen.
“I got up and saw that selection (of Maddinson) and asked if it was an old fashioned report, it’s extraordinary,” News Corp cricket writer Robert Craddock told SENQ Breakfast on Friday.
“I have to say, there are few times that a selection knocks you off your seat, I was stunned by this.
It’s an unusual selection; he’s a very, very
“It’s an unusual selection; he’s a very, very talented player. I’m not saying it can’t work, but we have an old team, we need a bit of youth.”
Maddinson last donned the baggy green during the 2016 Boxing Day Test and has not worn Australian colours since a T20 in Zimbabwe in 2018.
He only played in the Big Bash last season – making scores of 30, 21, 21, 30* and 26 – upon his return to professional cricket with the Sydney Thunder.
Even last year when I was playing club
“Even last year when I was playing club cricket the whole year I wasn’t really banging the door down for New South Wales selection,’’ Maddinson said last week.
“I was not really sure. Being in the last years of my NSW contract. And at my age you do wonder if you will get back there and get the chance again.”
Bailey, fellow selector Tony Dodemaide and Australian coach Andrew McDonald showed they have long memories, however.
Maddinson scored a century opening the batting
Maddinson scored a century opening the batting on debut for New South Wales in Sheffield Shield cricket at the age of 18.
He was once regarded as one of the nation’s brightest young batting talents.
But his introduction to Test cricket was brutal.
ICC announces major rule changes | 00:43
Maddinson, Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb all debuted as Australia made a whopping five changes to the side that was devastated by South Africa – having been dismissed for 85 and 161 in Hobart to slump to a fifth straight Test defeat by the humiliating margin of an innings and 80 runs.
While Renshaw and Handscomb impressed earlier in their carer, under lights at the Adelaide Oval, Maddinson was knocked over by a brutal yorker from a young Kagiso Rabada for a 12-ball duck.
It was his only hit for the match
It was his only hit for the match as he was batting at No.6 and Australia won by seven wickets.
Things did not get much easier at the Gabba – another pink ball affair – when Pakistan left-arm quick Wahab Riaz dismissed Maddinson in both innings for 1 and 4.
He was given another chance at the MCG but 22 was not enough to be saved from the axe as Hilton Cartwright was awarded a debut in his place at the SCG.
Maddinson’s career stumbled for a while after,
Maddinson’s career stumbled for a while after, and took multiples mental health breaks from the game.
But a move to Victoria put his career back on track and has ultimately led to this surprise Test call-up.
From December 2018 to March 2024 when Maddinson donned the Big V, he averaged 52.37 in the Sheffield Shield – only Cameron Green had a better return in that time frame among batters to have played at least 20 innings in the competition.
He returned to his original home state
He returned to his original home state for the 2024/25 season, but fatigue led to poor returns and that was later explained as the cancer taking its toll.
Maddinson has also scored 18 first-class centuries and in the top 11 leading run-scorers in the Shield last summer, only discarded Test opener Jake Weatherald averaged better than his career mark of 37.11.
He has also scored his runs from just about every position in the top six.
Bailey noted that he provides flexibility throughout
Bailey noted that he “provides flexibility throughout the batting order” when announcing the aggressive left-hander alongside Victorian gloveman Sam Harper as additions to the squad.
Selectors clearly like the fact both players have the firepower to score quick runs, while Maddinson is also renowned as a good player of spin – a key point after Keshav Maharaj strangled the Australian middle order in the recently completed ODI series.
The selectors also have clearly stood up and took notice of those close to Maddinson.
Australia & India rematch to start WC | 00:57
New NSW coach Brad Haddin made the surprise
New NSW coach Brad Haddin made the surprise call to announce Maddinson as the state’s Shield captain.
The decision came after he was afforded a longer layoff than his state teammates, but arrived at training in Sydney in superb condition.
While with the bat, they surely would have taken notice of Maddinson’s comments about his own game during last summer’s Big Bash.
It’s probably as much fun as I’ve had
“It’s probably as much fun as I’ve had playing cricket for a long time,” he told AAP at the time.
“Six months ago, just to be out on the field and playing is something I wasn’t sure could happen this quickly.
“It’s probably just a different attitude to it all. I just want to play.
I thought I had a good opportunity
“I thought I had a good opportunity at the start of (the 2024-25) summer to try and put my hand up (for Test selection) and it didn’t work out. Now it’s just about enjoying playing, and whether I’ve got two years left or five years left, I don’t really know. But I’m still loving it, I’m enjoying it as much as I ever have and I’m still looking to improve.
“I think I’m probably better now than what I was 12 or 18 months ago as well. As long as that’s happening, I’ll keeping looking to play.”
Maddinson is also well versed in coming back and performing.
Jhye Richardson hitting him and breaking his arm in 2018 was a speed bump.
While he ruptured his ACL in the Big Bash on New Year’s Day in 2023, but scored three Shield centuries in five innings for Victoria when he returned the following summer, including a career-best double century at the SCG.
The Australian hierarchy are clearly confident he can do so.
Whether he gets called into the XI in South Africa is uncertain.
Just by sharing an Australian dressing room
But just by sharing an Australian dressing room with the likes of Steve Smith and Pat Cummins once again, Maddinson will be able to say he achieved “the most important thing”.
“I would still love to play Test cricket again, but I’m more realistic. The older you get, the less likely it is to happen,” he said last October.
“The most important thing would be to say I am available. That would be a nice day.”
Source: www.foxsports.com.au
