Arthur weighs up options

Mickey Arthur © Getty Images

South Africa go into their warm-up match against Ireland looking to finalise their best bowling attack.

With Makhaya Ntini not yet in the Caribbean due to the birth of his second child, coach Mickey Arthur has the chance to take a look at other options on Monday.

“Makhaya's absence gives an opportunity for Andre Nel, Andrew Hall and Charl Langeveldt to play together,” he said.

“They are basically vying for two places in our best team.”

But Arthur admitted he wants to keep the focus on winning rather than tinkering with his line-up during the warm-up games.

“The way the fixtures have been structured means there won't be room for experimentation,” he said.

“We want to be as clinical as possible. If we get on a roll and start winning, we will take that momentum into the rest of the tournament.”

South Africa face the Netherlands and Scotland in their first two games in the World Cup, but Arthur is keen to take no chances.

Andre Nel can expect to feature in Monday's warm-up encounter © Getty Images

“They should be soft matches but they're scary because you don't want anything to go wrong,” he said.

“The soft-scary games are right up front and as we move on through the Super Eight it gets tougher and tougher.”

Arthur's plan means some players may not play in the tournament, but he believes his squad can handle it.

He added: “We wanted to be the fittest team at the World Cup and the fitness tests we did before departure exceeded our expectations.

“The only scenario which could change that would be if we have qualified for the semi-finals with one or two games to go, which could give us an opportunity to rest a player or two.”

Arthur also claimed that his team's place at the top of the one-day rankings means nothing going into this tournament.

“We have prepared well and we will compete to the best of our ability,” he said. “It's an open World Cup but we know that we are one of perhaps five teams that can win it.

“We're not going to put ourselves under too much pressure by drumming 'World Cup, World Cup' into the players all the time,” he said.

“We are not going to do anything different to the way we have approached our cricket this season.

"The players will be well prepared for the matches but in between they must relax and enjoy themselves.

“That means that golf, beach braais, barbecues and boat trips are part of our schedule.”