PERTH, Nov 29: Australia will start the third and final Test against South Africa with an entirely new pace attack after dropping fatigued Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus from the 12-man squad for match, which begins on Friday.

The pace duo toiled in baking heat for nearly five sessions as they tried to bring an end to South Africa's second innings at the Adelaide Oval earlier this week after James Pattinson broke down with a rib injury during the match.

The match was ultimately drawn, leaving the series all square at 0-0 going into the Perth Test and Australia needing a victory to win the top Test ranking back from the tourists.

“We think both guys are still quite fatigued after Adelaide,” Australia captain Michael Clarke told reporters on Thursday.

“It was a really tough decision, especially the way they performed in that last game ... but we need to do what's best for the team.”

Mitchell Starc, Josh Hastings, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson were named as the four fast bowlers in the 12-man squad while all-rounder Shane Watson has also declared himself fit for bowling duties.

Clarke said he would make his final decision after inspecting the pitch on Friday morning and did not rule out spinner Nathan Lyon retaining his place in the team.

If 2009 ICC World Player of the Year Mitchell plays, it would be the left-armer's first Test after more than a year of struggle with form and fitness.

Clarke was clearly still shaken by Ricky Ponting's announcement that Perth would be his last Test but said he thought that would only further motivate the already highly motivated Australians.

“It's why you play this great game, I think Ricky's announcement will only give us more inspiration to do everything we can to try to win this game,” he said. “It's more special now because it's been such a great, hard-fought series.”

South Africa skipper Graeme Smith, meanwhile, is hoping all-rounder Jacques Kallis will be fit to bat and that the tourists' much-celebrated bowling unit finally clicks in the final showdown.

Kallis has already been ruled out of a bowling role after suffering a hamstring injury in Adelaide.

“I think Jacques is coming along nicely and we'll wait to see how he comes through the nets,” he said. “Hopefully he'll wake up tomorrow morning and be good to go. If Jacques is picked he'll have to [field] because we're not going to get any substitutes for him and we're not going to play with 10 men, we've already done that twice in this series.”

Teams (from): AUSTRALIA: Shane Watson, David Warner, Ed Cowan, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (captain), Mike Hussey, Matthew Wade, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson.

SOUTH AFRICA: Graeme Smith (captain), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, A.B. de Villiers, Jacques Rudolph, Faf du Plessis, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Rory Kleinveldt, Morne Morkel, Robbie Peterson, Imran Tahir, Ryan McLaren.—Reuters