LONDON // South Africa will dispense with damage limitation at Lord's today and instead try to launch a "new era". That statement of intent came from coach Mickey Arthur, exasperated by his team's sudden and telling loss of form against a resurgent England in the NatWest Series. The tourists' impressive limited-overs record has collapsed over the past week, culminating at The Oval on Friday in a second successive landslide defeat at the hands of Kevin Pietersen's England.
With the series already gone and a possible whitewash looming, Arthur has already made it clear no one - not even those players most closely associated with South Africa's long run of success - can consider their places safe. While England are re-inventing themselves as a force to be reckoned with near the top of the one-day international rankings, Arthur has challenged his side to make a much-needed gear shift.
"It's up to the youngsters in the next two games to stick their hands up and stake a claim. I've got a dressing room that is a little bit down in confidence. But we'll sit down and hammer home the basics again," he said. "It's up to us to bring those young guys forward as quickly as we can "This could be the starting point of a new generation for the South African one-day side. That's how we've got to look at it."
* PA Sport