Australian captain Ricky Ponting admits that the team may need to change their bowling attack after they were unable to defend a target of 414 runs in the first Test against South Africa in Perth.

The number one ranked team in the world have used a string of bowlers in the wake of the retirements of bowling greats Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, but none have been able to fill the considerable void left by the pair.

In Perth, Peter Siddle, Brett Lee and Jason Krejza only managed to pick up one wicket each and now Ponting and the selectors may be forced to look elsewhere.

Left-armer Doug Bollinger, who went on this year's tours of West Indies and India, is one man the Australians may turn to, particularly after his six-wicket haul for New South Wales just as Australia lost the Test. Ponting was also reportedly keen on Tasmanian swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus.

"We have to look at that," Ponting said to Cricinfo after the defeat. "We have to think about the style of bowlers we've got in the side at the moment, with the conditions that we're going to be confronted with in Melbourne and Sydney work out if we think they're the best guys to win us the next two games. If they're not then we have to make some changes."

"Maybe a Hilfenhaus or someone like that who can definitely use a new ball," Ponting said. "I think he'll come into calculations. Bollinger will definitely come into calculations because he was so impressive with all the work he did in India and I believe he's got wickets today. We'll talk about all those guys."

Siddle is the man most likely to be dumped from the bowling attack, but veteran seamer Lee?s poor form of late means, that while he is safe for now, his time as an automatic starter may soon come to an end.

"He'll be in the squad," Ponting said. "There's no doubt he's under a little bit of pressure at the moment. I think if you asked him he'd probably be a little bit disappointed with only taking one wicket this week as well. I'm sure he'll be in the squad."