Cape Town, Oct. 4 -- South Africa speedster Anrich Nortje is targeting a Test comeback, with the South African pacer revealing that his preparations began well before his recall to the national squad.

Nortje, who last played a Test in 2023, has been included in South Africa's 18-member preliminary squad for the three-match ICC World Test Championship series against Australia, which begins at Kingsmead in Durban on October 9.

"My prep from quite some time back has been red-ball," said Nortje, who has 70 wickets from 19 Tests. It's been quite a bit of a focus for me to try and execute skills with the red ball, to build loads gradually - and in the right way - and to try and get the overs up," Nortje said, as per the ICC website.

Much of ...