Fitness test to determine AB's fate

South Africa are expected to know later today if they can call on the brilliance of their captain AB de Villiers in upcoming ODI and Test campaigns against arch-foes Australia.

De Villiers is scheduled to undergo at fitness test at the Proteas’ training session at St Stithians College in Johannesburg today (this evening AEST) around the same time the Australians are beginning their one-off ODI against Ireland, 30km away at Benoni.

If the 32-year-old, who hasn't played for two months, has shown little obvious recovery from the impingement syndrome injury that is afflicting his left elbow and he is sent for surgery in search of a cure, then he will be sidelined for up to eight weeks.

Quick Single: De Villiers in doubt for Australia series

Which rules him out of the five-match ODI series against Australia that begins at Centurion near Pretoria on Friday and, more significantly, the subsequent three-Test tour to Australia that immediately follows the series on South African soil.

But while South African officials mull the potential loss of their on-field leader and best batter for the immediate future, de Villiers’ rival captain Steve Smith has dismissed any similarities between the South African’s ailment (attributed to heavy workloads and repetitive movements) and his own recent withdrawal from the tour of Sri Lanka to take a break from cricket.

Smith, like de Villiers, plays all three formats at international level (Test, ODI and T20I) as well as being a regular fixture in the annual Indian Premier League, and has experienced occasional bouts of soreness to his knee and his wrist.

But the 27-year-old claimed his decision to accept a proposal from the national selectors and withdraw from the Sri Lanka tour a fortnight before it was completed was an acknowledgement of mental fatigue rather than physical duress.

"I think it’s a bit different for South Africa, I’m not sure what their schedule is like," Smith said on the eve of the ODI against Ireland when asked if de Villiers’ scenario represented a cautionary tale for players with heavy international workloads.

"I know our schedule’s very busy and it’s probably more a mental freshen up that you need.

"I think playing day in, day out and so much cricket I think it affects you mentally and it’s about being fresh and being mentally switched on as much as possible."

Where Smith remains unequivocal is in his hope that de Villiers can train today with sufficiently reduced pain in his left elbow after a period of rest and that he will not be required to go under the surgeon’s knife.

Quick Single: Domingo says AB's injury due to workload

Not just out of compassion for his fellow captain’s physical welfare, but also with an understanding of the excitement that the South African brings for spectators and the immense challenge he poses for rival bowlers whenever he takes the field.

"From our point of view, we want to be playing against the best players and he’s one of the best players in the world," Smith said.

"It would be great to see him playing and to come up against him."

The five-match ODI series between Australia and South Africa offers Smith and his fellow Test batters David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh and Baggy Green Cap aspirants George Bailey and Travis Head a chance to get an early look at some of the Proteas’ bowlers likely to feature in the Test matches in November.

With Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott all in the Proteas’ ODI squad and expected to push for selection when the Test touring party to Australia is named.

But the Australians have offered South Africa no such reciprocal courtesy, having selected a bowling attack for the five ODIs at Centurion, Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town that will bear little resemblance to the line-up they take into the opening Test at the WACA Ground in Perth from November 3.

With Josh Hazlewood being rested and Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Pat Cummins and Nathan Coulter-Nile all at various stages of convalescence, Australia’s sole contemporary Test match bowler on this tour is allrounder Mitchell Marsh.

And while winning the ODI contests against Ireland and South Africa remains the overriding focus of Smith and his team, the chance to gauge the progress and prospects of uncapped quicks Daniel Worrall (who will debut against Ireland late today), Joe Mennie and Chris Tremain is also a significant by-product of the tour.

"We’ve got some newer guys on board here, potentially three debutants so it’s a good chance to see a few of those guys," Smith said.

"I’ve seen and faced bits and pieces of them.

"Obviously Tremain was at New South Wales when he first began so I saw a bit of him there, and he’s certainly improved a lot since then.

"And Worrall and Mennie have improved a lot as well, they certainly look a lot stronger than I’ve seen them before and with that they’ve gained a reasonable amount of pace as well which is a big bonus for them.

Quick Single: Worrall to debut against Ireland

"They’ve done very well both at domestic level and with the Australia A (team) in the winter as well.

"I think all of the quicks that are here have come a long way in the last couple of years, they’ve really and put their names up there so they deserve to be here.

"It’s a good opportunity to see how they go under pressure, against a good South African batting line-up."

Whether that line-up includes the world’s top-ranked ODI batter will likely be known later today when de Villiers undergoes his fitness assessment.