The Proteas are paaping over the fitness of fast bowlers Anrich Nortje and Sisanda Magala ahead of next month’s trip to India for the Cricket World Cup.
Nortje is currently nursing a lower-back injury, while Magala has a knee ailment.
And with the team leaving for the global showpiece in the next week or so - in time for their September 29 warm-up match against Afghanistan in India - coach Rob Walter says of the two: “We’re continually taking stock as to where both of those players are.
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“The fact that they weren’t playing [in the final match of the five-day series against Australia on Sunday] with just a week to go before we’re boarding a plane, it’s obviously a cause for concern because we would have wanted them to be out there competing.
“We’ll give each player as long as we possibly can. “To be honest there are a few complications around taking players that are injured into the World Cup because once the support period begins you have to provide medical reasons for them to be ruled out and to be swapped out.
“So we have to make sure that before that happens that they are going to be able to play.”
Andile Phehlukwayo is one of the players waiting on standby should Nortje or Magala fail their fitness tests this week.
The other player waiting in the wings is Lizaad Williams.
Walter, meanwhile, is happy with the way his charges fought back from 2-0 down in the five-match ODI series against Oz to win 3-2 by claiming the decider by 122 runs.
He says of their comeback: “It’s easy to get caught in the emotion on either side - no one likes losing, everyone likes winning.
“For me as coach it’s just important to stay level and understand where we’re at as a team, what we’re working on and what we’re working towards…”