Everybody in the pool vying to make the tour have been put through their paces in every aspect and when they set foot on Mandela land, they will be eager to fire all cylinders and endeavour to turn tables on the Proteas.
While coach Bruce Yardley has tightened all technicalities of each player, with the assistance of manager Duleep Mendis, Physio Alex Kountouri has got them into peak fitness.
The wickets that the Lankans will have to play on will be pace and bounce oriented with indications that the ball will wobble about, what with the South Africans having possibly the best speed combination. In order to get our batsmen to confidently face the swinging deliveries, the competence of former South African batting great and opener Barry Richards has been obtained and he is sure to have shown our willow wielders how to front up to the opponents pacies.
There is no doubt that the Lankans will be up against one of the best allround teams in the game today. The South Africans led admirably by Hansie Cronje were unfortunate not to beat the Aussies. But then that's how the game goes.
The local cricket selectors who sit on Monday to pick the 16-member squad to SA will have a most unenviable task to perform. They are aware that however good the squad they pick, their necks will be on the chopping blocks. But the selectors who have all played the game will not be unduly worried.
While most of the team picks itself, indications are that former glove-man Pubudu Dassanayake will get a recall. Dassanayake toured SA with an under-24 team, led by Sanath Jayasuriya in 1991 and he is well aware of the conditions there.
In recent times Dassanayake has done well as a wicket keeper and also batted well. When the South Africans previously toured here, Dassanayke was even promoted to the one drop slot and made to face the thunderbolts of Donald and Schultz. He stood up admirably to them. He should be on the flight to SA!
The selectors will sure be applauded for their boldness if they could slot in under-19 captain Pradeep Hewage into the squad. Hewage as skipper had a dream tour of SA during the under-19 world cup tournament. He won the best batsman's award which is a proud achievement and in addition led and performed creditably in all other departments. We see no reason why he should not be selected.
What will be expected of the selectors is that they pick the squad on form and nothing but form. If they go on this track we cannot see how the critics would derail the selections.
The recent tour by Zimbabwe and the current tour by England 'A' are yardsticks for the selectors to base their selections on. All cricketers who had performed well against this opposition will certainly be hoping to be considered and included. Not to be considered will certainly be dis-heartening to them.
Today every sportsman's or woman's cherished ambition is to sport Sri Lanka colours. And the only way this could be achieved is by performing consistently in his or her sport.
And if performance is what matters then in this instance those among the runs and the wickets will not take kindly if they are ignored.
Knowing the selectors as we do we can vouch for the fact that they will do everything possible to plonk in the deserving.
It is possible that interested parties will try to influenced the selectors. But they are not ones whom the plums of office can spoil.
They are men of character!