Perth, Dec. 16 : South Africa's new "White Lightning", Dale Steyn, has vowed to work on the Australian batters with raw pace.

Steyn and Australia rival Brett Lee will engage in their own pace showdown in the captivating battle which will set the tone for the grudge series, reports the Courier Mail.

Both men are known to send the speed gun soaring past the 150km/h mark.

Steyn, who has taken 60 Test wickets at 19.41 in 2008, has promised to leave nothing on the tarmac.

Perth, Dec. 16 : Australian captain Ricky Ponting has said that even Brett Lee will be expected to take his turn pushing into Perth''s famous sea breeze.

Ponting also confirmed that Peter Siddle will play the first Test against South Africa, beginning on Thursday, replacing Stuart Clark, who is out with tennis elbow.

Clark had surgery in Sydney on Monday afternoon to remove bone spurs on his right elbow and will miss the remainder of the international summer.

"It''s a big blow for Stuart and the team," Ponting said.

London, Dec. 16 : When batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar played the paddle shot to fine-leg to register India's victory against England and his 41st Test century in the first Test in Chennai on Monday, that victory stroke made hair on the neck stand up, claims former England fast bowler Angus Fraser.

In article for The Independent, Fraser says that it is not every day that you hear a cricket team chase down the highest total on home soil, and for Tendulkar to be there at the end and ensure that it happened for India, was not only miraculous, but heartwarming for a connoisseur of the game.

Sydney, Dec. 16 : The owner of the baggy green cap worn by Sir Donald Bradman in his final Test for Australia has sold the historic cap for a loss.

Auctioneer Charles Leski was quoted by Fox Sports as saying that the cap sold on Tuesday for an undisclosed sum over 400,000 dollars after it was passed in without a bid at auction last night.

Perth, Dec. 16 : South Africa''s mental conditioning coach Jeremy Snape, a former England off-spinner, last night disclosed that the Proteas players are attending secret psychological workshops to mentally torment their Australian opponents in the Test series starting from Wednesday.

The Courier Mail quoted Snape, as saying that he had instructed the Proteas to disregard past failures in Australia.

The man with a masters degree in sports psychology has hosted workshops for the South Africans where he insisted the battle of the minds would be easier without Australia''s retired champions.

Wellington, Dec. 16 : New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram has been ruled out of the second cricket Test against the West Indies starting Friday due to a calf strain.

Oram, who reported his latest injury two days before the drawn first Test started in Dunedin on Thursday, will focus on returning for the Twenty20 and one-day international legs of the West Indies'' visit.

The first Twenty20 international is in Auckland at Eden Park on Boxing Day.

The second is at Hamilton two days later before the five-match one-day series starts in Queenstown on New Year''s Eve.

Kyle Mills replaced Oram in Dunedin and is a possibility to play again after bowling impressively at University Oval.