Coach Mickey Arthur said Saturday he hoped an injection of young blood into South African cricket would help the team gain new heights and improve the country's ranking in the game.

Arthur said South Africa, fifth in Test ranking out of the 11 Test playing nations and who failed to reach the semi-final of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup this month, were in a transition phase.

"It's a sort of a rebuilding process and we need to see that our younger players are good enough, and for that we are working on a squad that can take South Africa to greater heights," Arthur told reporters.

"It is a new era in the sense that we are blessed with a lot of depth in our fast bowling and it's time we look at the younger guys.

"We need to have a settled squad in a tough year ahead of us."

South Africa is touring Pakistan for two Tests and five one-day internationals and is due to visit India, England and Australia in the next year.

Prior to their Twenty20 setback they also lost to Australia in the semi-final of the 50-over World Cup held in the Caribbean earlier this year.

But while calling for youth, Arthur believes the team have a solid backbone. And he insists that veteran all-rounder Shaun Pollock is an integral part of the squad.

"We have got six good seamers on the scene and we can rest any one guy without damaging the team as we have variety but at the same time Pollock is an integral part of our squad," said Arthur.

Pollock got a lifeline after rookie paceman Morne Morkel hurt his foot during South Africa's drawn three-day match here on Saturday. He was facing the axe after South Africa decided to include Morkel in Monday's first Test against Pakistan.

Arthur believes his batsmen are well equipped to face spin bowling in the first Test against Pakistan.

"We can play with what we have got and I think our batsmen have the capability and the technique to tackle spinners," said Arthur.

Pakistan are likely to play with leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman in the first Test.

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)