Cummins should be given Test debut - Mickey Arthur

Pat Cummins should be fast-tracked into Australia's starting line-up for the first Test in Cape Town, according to the former coach of South Africa, Mickey Arthur. Cummins, 18, has been named in Australia's squad for the two-Test tour of South Africa and will be Australia's second-youngest Test player of all time, behind Ian Craig, if he wins a baggy green.

Despite having played only three first-class matches, Cummins has impressed with his speed and his variations during his short career, including in his first two Twenty20s for Australia over the past week. Arthur, the mentor of Western Australia and a candidate to become Australia's head coach, said Cummins would form a formidable Test attack along with Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson.

"Pat Cummins has been fantastic," Arthur told ESPNcricinfo. "I think he should get a spot in the Test. If he's fit you've certainly got to play him. If you're good enough, you're old enough. I think he's going to be exceptional. He mixes it up, uses his variations.

"I saw him last year when we played a Shield game at the SCG at the end of the year. Marcus North got a hundred and walked off and said that it was the most sustained fast bowling he had faced since Test cricket. He changed his line of attack, he came around the wicket to Mitchell Marsh and Tom Beaton and roughed them up a bit. I thought he was very, very good."

Cummins won his place in the Test squad ahead of James Pattinson, who was part of the touring party in Sri Lanka, and he is likely to be jostling with his New South Wales team-mate Trent Copeland for a place in the side. Arthur said the variation provided by a Cummins-Harris-Johnson attack would be hard for South Africa's batsmen to handle.

"I think the best attack for Australia would be Cummins, Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson," he said. "They all offer something different. Then you can have Shane Watson and whichever spinner they decide to play.

"The variation in that attack is so good. You'll have the tall, quick bowler in Cummins, the left-armer in Mitch, and a guy who hits the deck hard in Harris. I think that's a really good combination."

Arthur was in charge of South Africa during Australia's previous tour there in 2008-09, when Johnson was a key figure in helping Ricky Ponting's men take the series 2-1. Johnson bowled with aggression and swing, roughing up Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis, and he finished as Australia's leading wicket taker.

His recent form has not been so impressive, a disappointing Ashes series and a middling tour of Sri Lanka having left him with 21 Test wickets at 41.28 over the past year. But Johnson collected five wickets in the fourth innings of last week's Sheffield Shield game in Perth, where he bowled Western Australia to victory over Tasmania, and Arthur said he was in a good headspace ahead of the South African trip.

"Mitch bowled extremely well for us in the Shield game here," Arthur said. "He was excellent. He hit the deck hard, bowled at good pace, he swung the ball at times - I thought he was right where he needed to be. He likes bowling in South Africa as well. I think he'll bowl well there.

"The key with the ball for Australia is Mitchell Johnson. Australia thrive off Mitchell Johnson. When he bowls well, Australia do well. Mitch is in a very good headspace at the moment."

Australia's Test-only players will fly out on October 27, although Harris and Michael Beer will remain in Australia a little longer, to allow them extra Sheffield Shield game-time. After a warm-up match in Potchefstroom, the first Test will be played at Newlands from November 9, before the teams head to Johannesburg for the second and final Test.