Anrich Nortjé played the most recent of his 19 Tests more than three-and-a-half years ago. Marques Ackerman has yet to appear in an international in any format.

While Nortjé has been away, playing 104 matches of all shapes and sizes - including 21 white-ball internationals - except at first-class level in South Africa, India, the United States, the Caribbean, Abu Dhabi and Europe, Ackerman has featured in 115 games across the formats in South Africa and England.

That’s a lot of degrees of difference between the two players. So there’s something like magic in the fact that both are in South Africa’s preliminary squad of 18 for the first Test against Australia at Kingsmead, which starts on Friday.

“I’ve worked hard my whole career to try to be in this space,” Ackerman said in audio released by CSA on Sunday. “They’ve got something great going on and it's amazing to be part of that now.

“Whatever is coming in the future, it’s not up to me right now. I just want to stick to giving back to this team and enjoying the space.”

That feeling never gets old, Nortjé said: “It’s taken longer than I hoped but it’s nice to be back. It’s exciting to bowl with the red ball again, and to be with the boys and in the environment.

“It’s relaxed at the moment, but things are going to ramp up. It’s nice to be here with the guys and working on X, Y and Z. It’s just fun. It’s only been a few days, but I’m looking forward to the next few weeks. I’m getting goosebumps. It’s something really special.”

And something Ackerman has been aiming for for most of his 30 years: “The earliest memories I have are of my parents and grandparents throwing balls to me. My grandmother used to own an indoor [cricket] facility and my parents worked there, and everyone who came to play there would throw balls to me. I used to bat all night long. So I grew up within the game.”

He also grew into a respected player and captain. While scoring 16 centuries at an average of 48.65 in 134 first-class innings, Ackerman led the Dolphins to the championship in the format in 2020/21 and South Africa A to successes over their West Indies and Bangladesh counterparts in June last year and in August and September this year. He has scored three centuries in six first-class innings this year, including a career-best 256 against the Bangladeshis. Now for the real thing.

“Test cricket is the proper test of skill and patience,” Ackerman said. “My love for four-day and Test cricket is something I keep really close to my heart.”

Nortjé wouldn’t disagree: “You don’t think of the tough times in T20 cricket. You think about executing skills. [In Test cricket] you think about the tough times, the good times, the hard work. That gets you through some sessions.”