Potchefstroom (South Africa), Feb. 20 : Young New South Wales opener Phillip Hughes has put his hand up to face South African fast bowler Dale Steyn and company first in the Johannesburg Test next week.

The 20-year-old has told his opening partner Simon Katich he wants to put his nerves to the test by taking strike for the first delivery against South Africa''s pace ace Dale Steyn.

"The young bloke put his hand up for it so he''s definitely got it," Katich said on Thursday in Potchefstroom.

Sydney/Johannesburg, Feb. 17 : Australian captain Ricky Ponting wanted to learn all he could about the youngest member of the touring squad, Phillip Hughes, and would have been most surprised to hear that Hughes loves to breed and show chickens.

For Hughes, this activity is a passion, but he rarely talks about it.

"He used to show chooks, and he used to help me breed them. It is something he keeps very close to him, and it is something he can''t do in the city, but it was one of his hobbies," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted his father, Greg, as saying.

Sydney, Feb. 6 : Since the upheaval of World Series Cricket, only two batsmen have made their Australian Test debuts before their 21st birthdays. The third will be New South Wales opener Phillip Hughes during the first Test in Johannesburg in South Africa three weeks from now.

The two other 20-year-old batting debutants proved hard to shift. Stephen Waugh played 168 Tests and Ricky Ponting is still entrenched, 14 years after his debut.

Melbourne, Feb. 5 : New South Wales star opener Phillip Hughes is in line to make his Test debut for Australia later this month after being named in a 14-man squad for the tour of South Africa.

The 20-year-old is set to become Australia''s youngest Test debutant since Craig McDermott played his first match as a teenager against the West Indies in December 
1984.

Australia''s first Test against South Africa begins on February 26 in Johannesburg.

West Australian Marcus North has emerged as the bolter in the squad, the left-handed batsman rewarded for his toil at domestic level with the bat and his off-spin bowling.

Sydney, Jan. 15 : Former Australian Test great Mark Waugh believes 20-year-old Phillip Hughes is the man who should take the opener's slot in the Australian squad.

Waugh said a fit and firing 20-year-old Hughes was worth the gamble, instead of Phillip Jacques, for the tour to South Africa.

"You could go either way but if you wanted a younger guy you''d go with Hughes," Fox Sports quoted Waugh, who played 128 Tests and was arguably one of the country''s greatest fielders, as saying.

Sydney, Jan. 8 : Australian cricket's chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch has given opener Phillip Hughes a ringing endorsement as Australia looks to replace Matthew Hayden

Hilditch''s comments are a sign the selectors are seriously considering the 20-year-old for higher honours in the not too distant future.

"As far as Phillip Hughes is concerned, he is a very fine player and showing great potential," the Courier Mail quoted Hilditch, as saying.