Proteas send out a southpaw S.O.S

South Africa's cricketers have asked for a bevy of left-arm quick net bowlers to help them prepare for the threat of Australian spearhead Mitchell Starc.

Many South Africans, including middle-order batsman Dean Elgar, are yet to face Australia's fast-bowling spearhead Starc, who has just played one Test against the Proteas – back in 2012.

"It's a general request from our management; there is not a lot of left-arm seamers," Elgar told reporters on Thursday in Adelaide.

"You have still got to tick those boxes in regards to preparation so we definitely have got a few (left-arm) net bowlers.

"And we have got a few of our management who also throw left-arm which is quite an asset, so we will definitely prepare in the right means."

Starc on Thursday said he had overcome a nasty gash to his leg and would play for NSW in their Sheffield Shield day-night opener from next Tuesday against Queensland.

Quick Single: Starc fit and ready for Test summer

It will be Starc's only tune-up before Australia selectors name the team next Friday for the first Test against South Africa in Perth, starting on November 3.

The left-arm quick hasn't bowled since the end of Australia's tour of Sri Lanka in September, after suffering a deep gash to his leg last month while sliding into a metal plate at the base of some stumps in a fielding drill.

"A metal plate which had nowhere to go bar back through my leg and I was stuck in a hospital bed for five days," said Starc, who required around 30 stitches and also underwent surgery.

Elgar said the tourists were well aware of the threat posed by Starc.

"His stats speak for themselves," he said.

"He seems a serious competitor, a guy who I respect a lot in the game. I see it as a very exciting opportunity to play against him."

Quick Single: CA XI's Matt not Short on confidence

Elgar also dismissed South Africa's 5-0 limited-overs series whitewash of Australia earlier this month as irrelevant to the upcoming Test matches.

"What has happened in South Africa in a different format is the past," he said.

"And I think they (Australia) are hungry to prove a lot of people wrong back in Australia – that makes them quite dangerous."

The South Africans open their tour this weekend with a day-night pink-ball match against a Cricket Australia XI in Adelaide.