McLaren ready to fill bowling role

With Jacques Kallis' fitness for the opening Test against England at Centurion still uncertain, Mickey Arthur, the South African coach, believes uncapped allrounder Ryan McLaren can play an important role with the ball, as South Africa strive to balance their side.

Kallis was included in the 15-man Test squad despite missing the entire one-day series with a broken rib. It is uncertain whether he will be fit to bowl but could play as a specialist batsman, which could mean that McLaren, formerly with Kent, might play as a back-up seamer.

"We've spent the last month or so having a look at potential allrounders - the one area we felt we were a little bit light on - and Ryan was the one guy that fitted the bill," said Arthur. "We need a bowler to be able to really come on and do a holding job - and we think Ryan could do that."

Though McLaren has bowled with pace - touching 90mph - in the one-day series so far, he has taken just one wicket and conceded 102 runs from his 19 overs. He's also struggled with that bat, collecting five runs from his three outings in the series.

It emphasises the problem South Africa face because there is no alternative who could bat in the top six and provide quality back-up bowling. Arthur admitted replacing Kallis is difficult and opens up questions about the balance of the side.

"You don't replace him every day of the week, with 10,000 Test runs and [almost] 300 wickets. But obviously we've got Jacques' injury, so we've gone for some cover in terms of giving ourselves options," he said.

"Not having him, you would have the dilemma of whether you went with five batsmen and an allrounder or still with the six batsmen. We're having a look at making sure we've got every option. But he's on track, he's making good progress [and] we're still hoping he'll be fine."

Meanwhile the hosts are confident that Dale Steyn will be fit for the Test series, after he was withdrawn from the final ODI match, at Durban on Friday, with a hamstring strain. Though South Africa trail England 2-1 in the series, Steyn sits out as a precaution.