South Africa prepare for new season

South Africa are casting their net far, wide and deep as their preparations for the 2011-12 season get underway. A squad of 28 players has been named to take part in a five-day camp at Arabella Golf Estate outside Cape Town, starting next Monday.

The exercise will provide Gary Kirsten with a first look at the players available to him, since being named coach on June 6. Assistant coach Russell Domingo and bowling coach Allan Donald will also get their first glimpses of the national team and those on the fringes. Donald told ESPNcricinfo that the camp will not consist of any actual cricketing drills, but will be used for planning and strategising and will provide the platform for Kirsten to share his vision with the national team.

"This is a very important camp as it is the only chance for Gary Kirsten and his new management team to work with the players before most of them go off to play in the Champions League in India," Mohammed Moosajee, team manager, said. The Warriors and Cobras, whose players make up 12 of the 28 squad members, have qualified for the tournament.

Three uncapped players have been included in the squad, Knights allrounder Dean Elgar and batsman Rilee Rossouw and Lions fast bowler Craig Alexander. There has also been room for a dozen players who performed well in the domestic season and are challenging for places in the national team.

Jacques Rudolph, who topped the SuperSport Series batting charts and led the South Africa A team against Bangladesh in April and to a tri-series in Zimbabwe in June, is one of them. He is joined by Titans team-mates Albie Morkel, who was controversially left out of the World Cup, Roelof van der Merwe and Paul Harris, who is now thought of as second choice to Pakistani-born legspinner Imran Tahir.

The succession path for the next international wicketkeeper is becoming clearer with Heino Kuhn having been included in the squad. Vaughn van Jaarsveld, who was part of the squad that beat Australia in the 2008-9 season, has come back into favour as has Ryan McLaren, who last played against West Indies in June last year. Wayne Parnell, Imran Tahir and Alviro Petersen were also due to be involved in the camp but are tied up with county commitments.

South Africa's domestic season starts in a month. The international season gets underway on October 13 with a Twenty20 against Australia in Cape Town. That will be followed by another T20, three ODIs and two Tests, before the series against Sri Lanka, which will consist of three Test and five ODIs. South Africa will also play New Zealand and England away in the next 12 months.

South Africa training squad: Graeme Smith, Craig Alexander, Hashim Amla, Loots Bosman Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Paul Harris, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Heino Kuhn, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Ashwell Prince, Rilee Rossouw, Jacques Rudolph, Dale Steyn, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe, Vaughn van Jaarsveld