Six Australian Test spots up for grab against Proteas

Former Australian skipper Mark Taylor believes that six Test spots are up for grab in the national team for the first match of the home summer against South Africa starting next month.

Australia, who recently were outplayed by the Proteas in the five-match ODI series, will face the Faf du Plessis led-side for the three Test series starting from November 3.

The Steven-Smith led side would try to put behind the embarrassment they faced in a 0-3 Test series defeat to Sri Lanka in August when their batting skills against spin were exposed to the core.

However, the 104-Test veteran has identified Smith, David Warner, wicketkeeper Peter Nevill and the pace duo of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood as players who "pick themselves" for the WACA Test.

"I don't think there's anyone else absolutely penned in at the moment. The depth's not quite as good as we hoped it would be at this stage", news.com.au quoted Taylor as saying.

It should be remembered that top-order batsmen Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja were not picked in the Playing XI for the third Test on the ill-fated tour of Sri Lanka, while Shaun Marsh, who scored a blistering century in Colombo, is recovering from a finger injury.

37-year-old middle-order batsman Adam Voges doesn't has age on his side, all-rounder Mitchell Marsh was good in patches but was unable to put up a big score and lone off-spinner Nathan Lyon was disappointing on the Lankan tour.

Meanwhile, Moises Henriques and Jon Holland, who featured in the Playing XI for the last Test in Colombo, are very likely not to get selected for the upcoming series against South Africa.

"It'll come down to some of these Matador Cup (domestic one-day cup) matches and that round of (Sheffield) Shield games will be vitally important. They've got to prove their selection," Taylor said.

However, Taylor believes that Burns and Khawaja would be in the probables against the Proteas on the back of their previous home summer against New Zealand and the West Indies.

The first Test starts at the WACA in Perth from November 3, the second Test would be played at Bellerive Oval, Hobart from November 12 and the third and the last Test at the Adelaide Oval from November 24.