Mickey Arthur makes team-building his top priority

Mickey Arthur, the new South African coach, said team-building is his top priority ahead of the lengthy season, which starts next month and ends in May next year.

"We really need to develop a good team spirit because it is such a long hard season. We need to get the team like a family, with the amount of cricket coming up. We need to be able to fall back and rely on each other," he said during a break at the team's training camp at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria on Monday.

He was satisfied with the fitness of the players ahead of the long season, "Fitness levels are excellent - now it's just a question of topping them up." The coach also expressed confidence about his team's prowess, "I don't want to sound arrogant," he said, "but I know that technically, we're going to be all right. I know that what I've done in terms of strategising is right. I've analysed and I've strategised and I know the structures we've set up are right. Now it's just a matter of putting the game plans into practice on the field."

Arthur added that while the tour of Australia in December and January is high on everybody's mind, he won't let it affect the preparation for the two tough series immediately before that, against New Zealand and India.

"We're not going to take the eye off the ball as regards those two series. They are both going to be very tough. New Zealand are a very good team and playing India in India is always hugely tough," he said.

"I think we can expect a huge backlash from Australia after losing the Ashes," he said. "And when we go there, we just have two first-class warm-up matches after 10 one-dayers and a Pro20, whereas they will have just finished three Tests against the West Indies. So that's going to be very difficult."

On reports of rifts in the team during the tour of West Indies earlier this year, he said, "There was a bit of tension, which happens when they have been together for so long, but it's fine now. We're going away for a team building session this weekend and, if there are any lingering problems, they will be knocked on the head before they get out of hand."

Arthur offered hope to the players not in the current national squad, "The selectors will be watching the domestic series, and identifying players who can put pressure on the national side," he said.

"I believe the most important role of the selectors is not to select the national team but to identify talent. I think there is a lot of depth in South African cricket," Arthur said.