McGrath, who took 36 wickets in the Ashes series against England, has played only two limited-overs internationals in the last six weeks. He is trying to convince selectors of his fitness, but the odds are against him being at his best.

There is also the possible disruptive effect of Australia's new policy of splitting their one-day and Test teams. This means key men like Mark Taylor and Ian Healy, along with Matthew Elliott and Greg Blewett, have been kept out of the limited-overs team recently.

South Africa have generally kept their Test and limited-overs teams together, with only the out-of-form Adam Bacher left out of one-day games.

Australia (from): *M A Taylor, S R Waugh, A J Bichel, G S Blewett, S H Cook, M T G Elliott, -I A Healy, M S Kasprowicz, G D McGrath, R T Ponting, P R Reiffel, S K Warne, M E Waugh.

South Africa (from): G Kirsten, A M Bacher, J H Kallis, D J Cullinan, *W J Cronje, J N Rhodes, H H Gibbs, B M McMillan, S M Pollock, L Klusener, -D J Richardson, P L Symcox, P R Adams.