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Is Steyn the man to end Aussie home dominance?

Roar Guru
5th December, 2008
1

Not since Allan “White Lightning” Donald arrived in Australia 15 years ago has an opposition fast bowler generated so much pre-series hype as Dale Steyn.

That’s fitting as Steyn, who arrives in Australia with the Proteas squad on Sunday, is the natural heir to the South African pace bowling throne vacated by Donald and previously occupied by the likes of Garth Le Roux, Mike Procter, Peter Pollock and Neil Adcock.

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.

There was the odd bump early on – he still rues a humiliating spell of five overs for 58 runs against a white-hot Phil Jaques in an ODI at Melbourne’s Docklands in early 2006 – but since regaining his Test spot later that year he 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,’ Steyn told SA Cricket magazine.

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“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.

“Sheesh, with the extra pace and bounce on those wickets and with myself and Morne Morkel firing – 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.

“You want to be known as the guy who did well against the Aussies.

“It’s great taking wickets against Bangladesh and the smaller nations, but you’re ultimately measured by your performances against the big teams.

“I want the responsibility; I want to be that player.”

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

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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.

As a man, Steyn is known for sincerity off the field, but plenty of hostility on it.

He has occasionally become embroiled in on-field argument, tiffing with Yuvraj Singh and Brendon McCullum in the past.

Common to both his off and on-field personae is a piercing stare Andy Roberts would have enjoyed.

Yet strangely for one who seems so naturally fast, Steyn has not always played as a paceman.

“I was quite quick as a bowler at primary school,” he told The Times.

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“But to be honest, I was known more as that guy who bats at six and smashes it around. Then, when I was about 15 or 16 I shot up. Before that I was really quite small.

“It was then that I realised I had something to offer.”

What he could offer became clear to Vaughan in the fraction of a second it took for Steyn’s debut outswinger to go from hand to off stump at St George’s Park, swerving late to evade the England skipper’s straight bat.

The Wisden Almanack called it “unplayable”, and most observers agreed.

As an indicator of potential, it was a frightening piece of footage, as much for the perfection of Steyn’s seam position as for the scattered stumps.

“The Michael Vaughan ball will be remembered forever,” Steyn told Cricinfo.

“That’s the one everyone remembers. I was playing my first Test and bowling the England captain out with a shaping away delivery was memorable.”

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Control and stamina are not attributes as readily attributed to Steyn as pace and swing, yet he has shown the ability to succeed when conditions have not suited.

A return of 15 wickets at 20.2 in three Tests against the Indians on the subcontinent earlier this year left Lee well and truly in the shade.

Now Ricky Ponting’s men await, in conditions that will aid the fast men, but with South Africa facing the barrier of having never beaten their southern hemisphere rivals in Australia.

“It does feel like everything has been building towards this point,” Steyn said.

“Let’s face it; it’s the biggest tour, almost like the world championship of Test cricket.

“We worked hard in England and came back from that tour victorious (for the first time since 1963), and we’ll look to ride that wave of confidence into the Aussie series.

“If you look at our record, we’ve won something like eight of our last nine Test series. We’re a team in form and a team with confidence.”

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