Allrounders Ryan McLaren and Wayne Parnell were named on Wednesday as South Africa's contenders to fill the huge void left by the retirement of Jacques Kallis.
McLaren and Parnell, who made their debuts in the same match against England in 2010, were called into South Africa's Test squad for the three-match home series against Australia.
They replace 18-year veteran Kallis, who played his final Test last month, and dropped spinner Imran Tahir.
The remainder of top-ranked South Africa's squad was unchanged from the recent series win over India, with wicketkeeper-batsman AB de Villiers picked despite surgery to remove a plate in his left hand just over two weeks ago.
Fast bowler Dale Steyn was in despite fracturing a rib against India in late December. The Proteas expect both players to be fit.
The bulk of Australia's squad was expected to arrive in South Africa on Wednesday following their 5-0 drubbing of England in the Ashes. The first Test at Centurion starts on February 12, with the teams also meeting in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
South Africa haven't lost a Test series in five years but their last defeat was at home to Australia.
Recognising the threat of the Australian attack that destroyed England, Cricket South Africa said left-arm fast bowler Beuran Hendricks and offspinner Simon Harmer would train with the squad to help prepare for Mitchell Johnson and offspinner Nathan Lyon.
The balance of the Proteas' team is a major talking point, with Kallis accepted as one of the greatest allrounders to play the game and South Africa's best. He scored more than 13,000 Test runs and also took nearly 300 wickets.
Captain Graeme Smith said the 38-year-old Kallis was irreplaceable.
South Africa will likely bring in another allrounder and batsmen will all move up the order. Neither McLaren nor Parnell has the world-class batting ability of Kallis, who came in at the pivotal No.3 and No.4 positions.
"We want to stay constant to the brand of cricket we have played over the last few years that has brought us such success," South Africa's head selector Andrew Hudson said.
The 30-year-old McLaren has played just a single Test but has been one of the Proteas' form players in one-day cricket recently. Parnell is 24 and viewed as a long-term prospect, but the last of his three Tests also came four years ago.
Squad:
Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Rory Kleinveldt, Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Thami Tsolekile.
Share
