Australia pick three uncapped quicks for SA ODIs

Daniel Worrall, Joe Mennie and Chris Tremain have been chosen for Australia's limited-overs tour of South Africa after the selectors were compelled to dig deep into the nation's pace reserves to cover for the resting Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

For a series that will be played in conditions more suited to pacemen than the just completed bout with Sri Lanka, Worrall, Mennie and Tremain have been rewarded for breakout domestic seasons for South Australia and Victoria, the two sides that contested last season's Sheffield Shield final.

National selector Rod Marsh said the seam and swing bowling trio will be needed to support John Hastings and Scott Boland against South Africa and also the opening match against Ireland. Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson, Pat Cummins and Peter Siddle were among the bowlers not able to be considered due to injury. Usman Khawaja, who played two ODIs against Sri Lanka with scores of 6 and 0, was left out of the squad. Adam Zampa is the frontline spinner in the squad with Nathan Lyon also omitted.

"Chris, Joe and Daniel all had terrific summers last year and have also impressed us during the recent Australia A series with consistent performances," Marsh said. "They are young players with a bright future who thoroughly deserve their selection and we look forward to seeing them work with John Hastings and Scott Boland, who have both performed well for Australia since returning from injury."

Mennie and Worrall formed a potent seam and swing combination alongside Chadd Sayers for the Redbacks last season, while Tremain moved from New South Wales to Victoria and soon found himself spearheading the bowling attack for the team that eventually lifted the Shield.

"I think consistently playing has been a big help," Tremain said in Melbourne. "People keep saying I got starved for opportunity in NSW but I don't think that was the case. It was a matter of not doing the right things at the right time to give yourself an opportunity to play there. Coming down to Victoria I got a few good opportunities early, did ok and rolled with the punches early.

"Then, rather than worrying about whether I was going to play the next game I worried about the next ball or how I was going to stay in the moment rather than worry about what had gone or what was going to happen. If there was any big change in my game it would be more upstairs in my head than anything else. Playing consistently and not worrying too much about whether I was going to play the next game, was a big step."

Tremain's first Australian tour will coincide with that of the new assistant coach David Saker, who took up the role as Darren Lehmann's deputy after helping guide the Bushrangers to the Shield. A plain speaker, Saker has ensured Tremain stays level in mindset, neither seduced by success nor downtrodden by failure.

"He just called and said what are the odds that my first tour is your first tour?" Tremain said. "He's good and he's no punches pulled, so I'm sure regardless or playing for the Renegades or Victoria or Australia coming up, if I've done something wrong you get scolded for it and rightly so.

"If you do something right it's not a big pump up, it's a pat on the back and congratulations for doing your job. He's really good at keeping people level, keeping people concentrated on what they need to do and not getting too far ahead or behind what they're doing."

While South African pitches should provide more assistance than Sri Lanka, Tremain said that the high benchmark being set by the likes of Hastings gave him a level of consistency to aim for. "I've been watching the ODIs in Sri Lanka at the moment and they look like they're very difficult to bowl on," he said. "Watching John Hastings and Scotty Boland work over there, [James] Faulkner, the way they go about their business on flat wickets is a really good viewing point for wickets that might offer a little bit more.

"Doing the hard work on these flat wickets just makes it that little bit easier on a wicket that might offer a bit more. Rather than looking at what we might get in South Africa I've been looking at what it's like when it is really hard and flat and you can't get the ball up around their ears or get it to swing. Viewing that sort of stuff has put me into a mainframe that things are going to be difficult, they might not be as difficult as Sri Lanka, but if I prepare for something really difficult and get a pleasant surprise, then grab it with both hands."

Travis Head retained his place in the ODI squad following a series of cameo performances in Sri Lanka, but there was no room for Glenn Maxwell. Mitchell Marsh returned to the squad after being rested from the Sri Lanka ODIs, while the captain Steven Smith also returned to the ranks.

Australia will play Ireland in Benoni on September 27 followed by the five ODIs against South Africa starting September 30 in Centurion.

ODI squad: Steven Smith (capt), David Warner, George Bailey, Scott Boland, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Joe Mennie, Chris Tremain, Matthew Wade (wk), Daniel Worrall, Adam Zampa.