Mickey Arthur claims batsmen will face a "baptism of fire" during South Africa's tour of Australia

Australian coach Mickey Arthur has claimed that top order batsmen will face a "baptism of fire" in South Africa's upcoming tour Down Under as the world's two best pace line-ups face off.

Rested and fresh

Inverarity said: "We are aware of all the factors; I mean the fact that Matthew is 24 and rising and Brad turns 35 about now. "Obviously Matthew is more for the future, but we're very focused on who deserves and who will be best against South Africa." Cricket Australia also defended the decision to withdraw Shane Watson midway through the Twenty20 Champions League in South Africa to have the all-rounder fresh for the upcoming summer. Arthur said: "We need Shane to be best prepared for that first Test match. "For us right now his best preparation is coming back and playing some red-ball cricket." South-African born Arthur also acknowledged there was an extra incentive for him to "get one over" the Proteas in the upcoming series. He said: "On a personal level for me, I guess it has a little bit of extra spice to play against the country of your birth, the country that I coached for five years." However, he admitted that "first and foremost" the series was about Australia getting back to the top position in international cricket. There have been signs of a revival with a 4-0 whitewash of India last summer at home and the emergence of a new generation of rising stars such as Pattinson, Pat Cummins and David Warner. Arthur added: "We have a massive opportunity here to get back to number one in the world and that's what this series is going to be about."