Melbourne, Dec.5 : The hype surrounding South African fast bowler Dale Steyn ahead of his team's tour of Australia, suggests that Australian cricketers need to very prepared to tackle Allan "White Lightning" Donald's natural heir.

Steyn has commendably taken over the South African pace bowling throne once occupied by the likes of Donald, Garth Le Roux, Mike Procter, Peter Pollock and Neil Adcock, reports The Age.

Like Donald after the Proteas' re-admission to the international arena in 1991, Steyn has wasted no time in putting the fear of pace into the world's batsmen.

He's gone from the raw kid who splayed the stumps of England captain Michael Vaughan in Port Elizabeth in 2004 to the top-ranked quick in the world going into the three-Test series against Australia in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.

Since regaining his Test spot at the end of 2006, Steyn has cut swathes through batsmen from every country but Australia, beating Donald's record as the quickest South African to 100 Test wickets (20 matches to 22) in the process.

In 2008, no other bowler has matched his 60 wickets at 19.41.

Now he is embarking upon a task that Donald never accomplished - beating the Australians in a Test series.

"I enjoy bowling under that kind of pressure. It's what I'm here to do. I haven't played too much in Australia, but I get really excited just thinking about it. I just can't wait. The conditions are similar to that of South Africa, and I think our quicks could cause the Aussie batsmen a lot of trouble," Steyn told SA Cricket magazine.

"You want to be known as the guy who did well against the Aussies," he added.

Steyn's weapons are basic, but their execution so murderously efficient that few batsmen have been able to keep him out for long.

As quick if not quicker than Brett Lee, he swings the new ball away from the bat, often savagely late, while also cannily varying his width at the bowling crease to create angles no batsman enjoys.

Having proven that he can bend it around corners even in India, Steyn will arrive confident he can swing the Kookaburra ball at will in Australia, something home openers Matthew Hayden and Simon Katich will need to watch closely.

ANI