Melbourne, Dec. 14 : Australian cricket coach Tim Nielsen has wasted little time in taking the attack to the South Africans.

Nielsen said his side was fiercely proud of its intimidating home record - unbeaten in a Test series since 1992-93 - and would ensure the South Africans did not have a comfortable time of it leading into the first Test, which starts on Wednesday.

"It''s about us making sure that when people come to Australia, they can''t just walk into here and expect to have it all their own way," Nielsen said.

Melbourne, Dec. 14 : Former South African star Daryll Cullinan says Australia ''should still be favoured to beat South Africa in the forthcoming home series.

Cullinan has predicted that Proteas will lose its seventh consecutive series to Australia - even in the absence of his nemesis, Shane Warne.

Cullinan said that even without Warne''s wizardry - and despite coming off a 2-0 series defeat in India - Australia remained cricket''s world leader.

"I think they''re a highly competitive side and at home they''re going to be tough to beat. They''re still right up there as world champions. Australia is still the team that everyone wants to beat, whether you play them at home or away," Fox Sports quoted him, as saying.

Karachi, Dec. 14 : Former Pakistan cricket captain Rameez Raja has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to stop pleading with the Indian team to tour Pakistan.

"What I say is whatever happens, the Pakistan board should stop pleading teams to tour. It is high time the board started revenue generating tournaments domestically to be self sufficient," Raja said.

"I am not very hopeful of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side getting the clearance to tour Pakistan in the aftermath of Indian Sports Minister MS Gill's comments," The News reported him as saying.

Gill had earlier said that it was not a time to indulge in sporting activities with Pakistan after the Mumbai massacre.

Karachi, Dec. 14  Pakistan cricket team coach Intikhab Alam has claimed that the atmosphere in the dressing room is improving with the rebuilding of trust among players.

Alam said, "The dressing room atmosphere is getting better already. In Abu Dhabi, the atmosphere was great and, that's a good sign for Pakistan."

Pakistan played a three-match One-day International series against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi which it won 3-0.

Melbourne, Dec. 14: Cricket Australia is expecting to turnover more than a billion dollars in the next four years, but added that player pay rises would not be automatic.

New Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke said payments to Australia''s elite players had to be weighed against the cost of many other areas that promote, sustain and develop the game.

He also suggested a major push to recruit indigenous players - to develop role models such as Maurice Rioli, Michael Long and Andrew McLeod in the AFL - would be a priority investment.

Perth, Dec. 14 : Former West Indian pace bowler Michael Holding believes that the present South African pace attack is the most ferocious to arrive Down Under in almost 20 years.

The Sunday herald Sun quoted Holding as saying that quicks Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini, Morne Morkel and Monde Zondeki could expose Australia to the express speed generated by the feared Windies outfits of the 1980s and ''90s.

Australia has not lost a Test series at home since 1992-93, when West Indies trio Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Ian Bishop terrorised the home team with their cocktail of raw pace and steepling bounce.