Arthur seeks cure for batting struggles after South Africa sweep

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur said on Monday he was determined to find a solution to his team's problems against fast, short-pitched bowling.

Speaking after South Africa completed a 3-0 series clean sweep by winning the third Test by 107 runs at the Wanderers Stadium, Arthur said he wanted to build a team able to play in all conditions by the time they started their campaign in the world Test championship in September.

"We play Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates in September then we play Australia in Australia straight after that," said Arthur. "We have to have our skill sets perfect to manage the bouncing ball. I want to get our batsmen into Australia three or four weeks early, to have camps there to get them ready."

Arthur singled out Babar Azam, Shan Masood and Asad Shafiq as batsmen who had played well during the series.

"I thought Babar Azam was outstanding, he's taken his cricket to another level,” he said. “There's question marks around Babar and I think they'll disappear now, I thought the way he played this series was amazing.”

He added: “I though Shan Masood played exceptionally well at the top of the order and number three. Asad Shafiq also played two quality innings.”

The Pakistan head coach also gave qualified support to Sarfraz Ahmed, whose captaincy was questioned by Pakistani media.

"This question always arises at the end of a series," he said. "He wants to lead from the front. I thought his wicketkeeping has been outstanding. What we need is to get a good core of leaders around him. If we can do that he'll go from strength to strength."

While answering a question about whether a change of personnel was required in the batting department, Arthur said: “For the moment, the best batsmen in Pakistan are sitting in the dressing room."