Coach Mickey Arthur has stressed Australia remain highly confident of toppling top-ranked South Africa in the first Test at the Gabba despite losing key allrounder Shane Watson.
Watson was ruled out with a calf injury on Monday, allowing late-blooming Victorian opener Rob Quiney to be handed a Test debut on Friday in Brisbane.
Arthur said an early call was made on injury-plagued Watson, 31, to ensure he’ll “play unrestricted” in the second Test in Adelaide.
“He won’t be fit enough come Friday,” said Arthur. “We wanted to be really decisive. We didn’t want this to play out the whole week.
“If it was a 50-50 chance we probably would have pushed it a little bit further into the week.”
Quiney will bat at No.3 for Australia against the Proteas’ menacing pace attack, spearheaded by Dale Steyn, one spot ahead of Ricky Ponting who is set to overcome hamstring soreness to play.
Despite Watson’s blow, Arthur remained upbeat of the Australians’ chances in the three-Test series, citing last season’s 4-0 whitewash of India without the allrounder.
“We are comfortable we have the players and we have the cover,” he said.
“We’re relaxed, we’re calm. I think the team is in a really good space.
“We’re excited and really hungry for some success. We see this as a massive opportunity for us.”
The former South Africa coach also looked on the bright side of Quiney’s sudden promotion – becoming the third left-hander in the top-three behind David Warner and Ed Cowan.
“There’s no secret Dale (Steyn) hasn’t bowled well to left-handers,” Arthur said before correcting himself. “Let me rephrase that; he bowls a lot better to right handers than left handers.
“And Rob gives us another left-hander in the top-order.”
Arthur and captain Michael Clarke met with Gabba curator Kevin Mitchell Jnr on Monday morning and the coach gave a strong indication off-spinner Nathan Lyon would play.
“We think we’re going to get a very good Gabba wicket which increases the likelihood of us playing a spinner,” he said.