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Though England and Australia are the sexier fixtures, Aiden Markram says the Proteas won’t overlook Bangladesh in what will be a packed home summer of matches.“Obviously there is Australia and England, but look at that Bangladesh team, with the pace they have developed. They will be no pushovers at all,” said Markram, the newly minted SA Player of the Year.Markram’s wariness is certainly warranted, with Bangladesh having beaten Pakistan in a Test series on home soil in May and then defeating Australia also at home in a One-Day International series. Those successes resulted from some excellent fast bowling, led by 23-year-old Nahid Rana. He took 11 wickets against Pakistan with the veteran Taskin Ahmed picking up six in those two Tests. Rana also took 4/41 in the series opener against Australia that was played on a pitch in Dhaka that was deliberately left with more grass on it. The Bangladeshis started planning for their tours to Australia (next month), South Africa (November/December) and next year’s World Cup by moving away from their traditional spin-friendly home decks. It provided added assistance for a young bowler like Rana, who has been clocked at 145km/h and more. With their Tests against South Africa being played at the Wanderers and SuperSport Park, the Tigers won’t be short of firepower on traditionally fast and bouncy pitches.Defeats recently to Zimbabwe have taken some of the gloss off Bangladesh’s achievements this year, but a two-Test series, starting on August 13, against Australia, will provide an opportunity to rebound and will be a thorough examination of their progress. It will be nice to play Test cricket in front of our own fans and we want to make them proud— Aiden MarkramMarkram is one of eight South African men’s players who are contracted to The Hundred competition in England that began on Tuesday. The Proteas’ T20 captain will take charge of the Manchester Super Giants, but is already looking forward to a home summer of high-octane international matches after the complete absence of Test cricket last season.“It’s a pity we’ve not played Test cricket in front of our own fans since the World Test Championship [final]. It will be nice to play Test cricket in front of our own fans, and we want to make them proud. It’s not just playing Test cricket, but it’s against really exciting opposition.” Besides the Tests against Bangladesh, there are three against Australia (the first in South Africa since the “Sandpaper series”) followed by three against England. “Then there is the 50-over World Cup prep … it’s a lot of cricket, all of it at home, and as a player it’s a lot to look forward to.” Markram admitted that despite winning the Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year awards at last week’s CSA ceremony, he wasn’t pleased with his own performances. “It’s weird, I didn’t feel like it was a great year personally. We did some great things as a team, which is ultimately what you live for,” said Markram.The obvious highlight was his magnificent second innings of 136 that helped seal the WTC at Lord’s against Australia. He also had an excellent T20 World Cup, despite South Africa’s failing at the semifinal stage, while there were important performances in South Africa’s Test series win in India — arguably the second-best achievement of 2025. “I felt I had a lot more in me. When you play so often, you get caught up in not being able to process things much, and you move on to the next thing. Maybe it was a case of that, and maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I’m grateful for how things worked out.”After becoming a father for the first time in June, Markram is setting his sights on making more history for the Proteas in the next 18 months. “World Cup 2027 is the big one, and hopefully the stars can align for the white ball squad,” he said.
