September 30, 2007	Sunday	Ramazan 17, 1428

KARACHI, Sept 29: Shaun Pollock, the seasoned South African all-rounder who was a surprise omission for the first Test against Pakistan, could still play after it was revealed on Saturday that young paceman Morne Morkel is carrying a foot injury.

The 22-year-old Morkel, who was very impressive during the recent Twenty20 World Championship, bowled just two overs on the final day of the tour match against the PCB Patron’s XI before going off with an injury to his left foot.

South African coach Mickey Arthur told reporters that the injury to Morkel is a worry for Monday’s opening Test although an official prognosis from Shane Jabaar, the team physiotherapist, is still pending.

“He (Morkel) picked up a niggle on his landing foot and it is a worry for us since he is an integral part of our plans,” Arthur said. “He will have a fitness test on Sunday before we take any further decisions.” The coach offered then Pollock a lifeline by saying: “Polly might come back into it (Test reckoning).

Friday’s decision to drop 34-year-old, Pollock, South Africa’s leading Test wicket-taker and most experienced bowler took everyone by surprise, not least to the man himself who has taken 416 wickets in 107 Tests. For the first time in his career he had been dropped for any reason other than injury as the South Africans decided it was time to move forward and assess fresher talent.

However, Arthur was quick to point out that the decision was not the end of the road for Pollock.

“We are blessed with a lot of depth in our bowling ranks. We are looking to have a settled squad before the away series in India, England and Australia next year. The only way to find out whether the young guys are good enough is to give them exposure.

“Polly is a world-class performer and the decision to leave him out for the first Test was taken after considering options available. But now with the injury to Morne, Polly stands a great chance of playing here on Monday,” the coach asserted.

Arthur, who took over from Ray Jennings as the national coach in May 2005, said that he was beginning to feel at ease with the bowling resources.

“I’m comfortable with our batting depth and now starting to feel the same with the bowling as well. Paul Harris, for instance, is going to add a new dimension to our attack, something we haven’t had over the last couple of years.

“Overall, I’m very comfortable that we are working with a squad that could take South Africa to a greater height in Test cricket. But it’s going to take time because it is a young squad. We need to expose them to see what they can do. You can’t replace someone like Polly (Pollock) overnight, can you?” he declared.

The coach was also pleased with the outcome of the warm-up fixture. “The positives from this tour game were that we spent time in the middle and got acclimatized to the heat. All our batters, bar Ashwell Prince, spent a lot of time in the middle which is great.

“You know playing a game and spending time on your feet. Spending time in the middle is so much different to having net sessions. So we have taken a lot of positives,” he added.

Arthur was confident that the South Africans would fare well in the first Test despite the fact that a spinning track is being prepared at the National Stadium.

“Our batsmen are used to facing spin now,” he said. “We played Anil Kumble and Danish Kaneria on spinning wickets in South Africa not long ago, and handled them quite well. I am confident that our batsmen have the equipment and technique to handle that threat now as well.

“I believe Pakistan are likely to go in with an attack based around spin. Kaneria is a fantastic bowler and remains the greatest threat for us. (Mohammad) Hafeez and Shoaib (Malik) give them additional options plus they have the slow left-armer (Abdul Rehman). But we are ready for them,” Arthur said confidently.