Mickey Arthur happy with South Africa's options

Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, is confident his squad has the depth to cover for Jacques Kallis should the allrounder fail to recover from his fractured rib. However, as Arthur told Cricinfo yesterday, Kallis is doing everything possible to get ready for the first Test at Centurion Park and will have another session in an oxygen chamber on Monday.

Like England, who have question marks over the balance of their team, South Africa will be faced with a tough decision of how to replace Kallis should he miss out. Ryan McLaren is part of the 15-man unit currently at a training camp in Potchefstroom and so is Alvrio Petersen who could come in as a specialist batting option. Both would have to face the challenge of their Test debuts, but the option of playing six batsmen would leave the home side's four-man attack with a heavy workload.

"We have given ourselves options by having a guy like Ryan McLaren in the squad. The reason we've brought in another allrounder is that it gives us the option of going with five batters and [Mark] Boucher plus the allrounder to give us five bowlers," Arthur said. "We have pretty much covered all bases and ultimately it will be up to us to make the right decision. First prize is a fit Jacques Kallis.

"By Sunday we will have a very good indication of where he is. It has felt a lot better, but we won't know until we put it through proper training, bowling for spells and batting, and only then will we be able to make a decision. He spent two days in the oxygen camber and has another session on Monday and we just hope that speeds up the recovery."

Kallis took part in the training session South Africa managed between the thunderstorms which involved laps around the ground, but Friday will be an important day as the players start their cricket skills. When pushed about his favoured option if Kallis was absent, Arthur said he would have to wait until arriving in Pretoria next week. "I can really comment until I see conditions at Centurion and they will determine that. I'm satisfied that we have enough options to cover all eventualities.

"Jacques is a top five batter in the world, so if he is available to bat only he will most certainly do that," he added. "It just depends whether batting will further hinder the recovery process of the rib and that's something that we need to weight up. If he doesn't play it will mean that batting and bowling are out of the question. If he can only bat with no comebacks we'll certainly consider him at No. 4, there's no doubt about that."

Kallis is one of five players in the South Africa squad - along with Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher, JP Duminy and AB de Villiers - who haven't played any first-class cricket for nine months following the end of the Test series against Australia. Since then there has been a diet of Twenty20 and one-day action, but Arthur is confident the individuals can refocus onto the longer format despite a short preparation time.

"The guys are professional enough and we have got a lot of things done today which have tested them physically and tomorrow they will be tested technically," he said. "They will be put in situations that they are likely to face in Test cricket. Today is all about physical and mental exertion. We want to give them time on their legs. We have got to get the bodies conditioned to Test cricket."

Arthur, himself, can't wait to get his mind back around the five-day game with all the ebb and flow it entails and the intricate tactics involved. "It's about time, I'm really looking forward to getting back into Test match mode," he said. "It's where we are really challenged as a team. Fighting and attritional qualities comes through. Test cricket is still the ultimate in our dressing room." The question is, will that dressing room be with or without Kallis' immense skill and experience? The next three days will give us an idea.