"We'll have to wait and see," Knight said. "Obviously, she went down in that first ODI, and it's pretty rare to see Kate in that much pain. So we'll have to see how that reacts. She'll try and have a little bowl today, try and get a couple of spells in, and then we'll make a call based on what we think is best for the team.

"Obviously we've got a huge amount of cricket coming up as well, so that's going be at the forefront [of our thoughts]. Kate's such a key player for us in one-day cricket and Test cricket. We want to give her the biggest chance, because she's so desperate to play Test cricket, but we feel like our seam bowlers are going to be so important over the next month, so we want to really look after them.

"So, "I don't know" is the honest answer, but if she doesn't play, we'll obviously miss her."

The upcoming Test will be South Africa's first on home soil in 22 years, and Knight - who still considers the format to be her favourite despite the scarcity of opportunity - said her players were all excited at the prospect of "pulling the whites back on". The challenge of switching mindsets from white-ball to red-ball cricket, however, would be the biggest factor for the coming four days.

"From my own experiences, I absolutely love playing red-ball cricket," Knight said. "It's such a test, such a challenge, and something that I love doing the mental challenge, the repetition of skills, adapting to so many different situations that you might face. I absolutely love it.

"But honestly, in the build-up to the Test, everyone was like, 'right, what do I do, how do I learn? How to develop?' Picking a team is pretty hard, just because you're going on minimal information, from white-ball cricket or from a Test match that was maybe a year ago.

"So it's quite hard thing to prepare for. Mentally, it's about getting clarity around how you're going to play. I don't think that should differ hugely from your one-day mindset, it's just doing things for a little bit longer and managing situations that change in a game a little bit better.

"You have to be okay sometimes with not scoring, and having to soak up pressure for a little bit longer. But also I want the girls have that mindset that, when we get a chance to really put the pressure back on the opposition, can we move the game forward at a rate of knots?"

The two teams last faced each other in a Test match at Taunton in 2022, where Marizanne Kapp made a brilliant 150 to set her team up for a hard-fought draw.

"She's certainly high-class, she's a key player for them," Knight said. "We have our plans to try and get her out. Laura [Wolvaardt]'s got potential to bat long and score some big runs as well, so she's another key player. We want real clarity about how we want to go about it, then it's about adapting to how they're playing the game in the moment as well."

Despite the proximity of the Ashes, where the Test will be held for the first time at the vast MCG, Knight insisted England's focus was all in the "here-and-now".

"We're totally focused on this Test match. It's been in the calendar, and it's something that the girls have highlighted that they really want to play in and really want to do well. Any chance to play a Test match is really cool.

"We've had one eye on the Ashes throughout this series and trying to prep for that, whilst also not looking too far ahead and doing what we need to do to have some success. And obviously we've had huge success on this tour. It's been a brilliant trip for us, a really successful tour. We've had loads of learnings as well, and things we can fine tune before we go into the Ashes."

In the last BBL game played at Optus Stadium, a low-scoring knockout final back in January, Adelaide Strikers successfully deployed a spin-heavy attack that flummoxed Perth Scorchers and ended their dreams of a hat-trick of titles.

It was a stunning turn, pardon the pun, of events and underlined that spin can have a major impact on a surface renowned for being fast and bouncy much like the nearby WACA.

Scorchers, the competition's most successful franchise, will be determined to bounce back but they could face challenges with their spin depth.

Left-arm wrist spinner Hamish McKenzie departed in the off-season after taking up a two-year deal with Stars having struggled to regularly crack into a Scorchers attack usually featuring Agar as their sole frontline spinner.

Agar has been a mainstay of Scorchers' attack for years, relied upon to dry the scoring in the middle overs although he was expensive late last season. He has not played since suffering a shoulder injury during the Sheffield Shield last month.

Having been blooded into Australia's white-ball teams, there was a lot of excitement heading into this season over Connolly whose x-factor allround ability has seen him likened to Travis Head.

But he's been on the sidelines for the past month with a fractured hand after being whacked by a short delivery from Pakistan quick Mohammad Hasnain in the third ODI at Optus Stadium.

It was a premature end to Connolly's first innings in international cricket, but he appears a chance to take his place against Stars after playing in Scorchers' intra-squad match on Thursday at the WACA.

"I'm going to try and put my best foot forward to play on Sunday. But it's up to the coaches to decide if I'm ready or not," Connolly told ESPNcricinfo on Thursday. "It's obviously frustrating [the injury], it wasn't great timing. But it's a small bump in the road and I'm just looking to keep a positive mindset."

Connolly is still developing his left-arm orthodox bowling, but does boast a three-wicket haul among his 15 BBL games. The 21-year-old Connolly is set to assume more responsibility if Agar is absent, while his cavalier batting makes him a potential match-winner.

Connolly offers flexibility with the bat but failed to make an impact as an opener early last season. At this stage of his career, No. 6 is his preferred position and appears the best use of his ability to finish an innings as he memorably showed in the unforgettable final of BBL12 when he helped lift Scorchers to the title and became an instant cult hero.

"I like to be very versatile and I'm happy to bat anywhere from one to seven," Connolly said. "But at this point in time, I probably see myself at six and want to try to knuckle down in that role and finish off the innings."

Spoors, 25, was a highly touted top-order batter as a junior and received his first Western Australia contract while he was in high school. But he never played a senior game and was discarded in 2020 after three years on the list.

"I probably didn't know my game too well and chopped and changed my technique a lot," Spoors told ESPNcricinfo. "I listened to too many people when I was younger and probably couldn't say no to the advice."

With his cricket career in ruins, he tried his hand at Australian Rules Football, his other sporting passion, but the rough and tumble sport proved demanding for the diminutive Spoors.

He decided to give cricket another serious crack, with a particular focus on the T20 format amid the sport's shifting landscape to franchise leagues. But a reinvention was required if he was going to make a professional career out of it.

Having always been able to bowl a "quick leggie", Spoors focused on the craft of legspin and used Afghanistan talisman Rashid Khan as a blueprint.

"I could never really slow it up, that wasn't really my game," Spoors said about his legspin. "I've always been able to bowl a wrong'un and leggie, so being able to to do that fast...I've tried to utilise that and it's the type of bowling that suits T20 cricket."

He's also worked on his power-hitting in a bid to turn himself into a specialist finisher.

"Playing Associate cricket helped my confidence," he said. "I played on so many different pitches in different environments that it holds you in good stead. And meeting new people and being part of different cultures really expanded my horizons."

Spoors took that form into last season's local cricket competition in Perth where he shared the Olly Cooley Medal with Renegades batter Jono Wells for the top player in WA Premier Cricket.

He then impressed in August's Top End T20 Series in Darwin to seal a contract with Scorchers before making his List A debut for WA against Victoria at the MCG last month. He didn't get a chance to bowl and made just 4 off 12 balls at No. 6 in the rain-interrupted match, but more opportunities under brighter lights may be imminent.

Spoors already has an enthusiastic supporter in the Scorchers ranks with Connolly, his Scarborough team-mate in local cricket, a firm believer in his skill-set.

"I'm very close to him and we've had some good conversations about the game and being a spin allrounder," Connolly said about Spoors. "I think if he gets an opportunity, he'll be ready."