Melbourne, Dec 15 : Pedestrians are becoming frequent victims of the fierce competition between Sydney taxi drivers over ferrying more and more passengers during the festive season.

According to the latest figures released by CBD''s busiest hospital emergency department, one in five pedestrians involved in road accidents was a victim of a racing cab.

The study found that 17.8 per cent of pedestrian victims admitted to St Vincent''s Hospital last year that they had been hit by taxis.

About 16.3 per cent of motorcyclist patients had also been hit by cabs.

Melbourne, Dec 15 : South African pace spear head Dale Steyn has vowed to knock down Australian opener Matthew Hayden by targetting his head during this week's first Test in Perth.

Skipper Graeme Smith has identified Hayden as the key target for the Proteas, as it can be revealed that Steyn has made it his personal mission to blunt Australia's batting bruiser, the Courier Mail reports.

Hayden has long been the cornerstone of Australia's batting fortress but chinks have been appearing in the armour of the 37-year-old opener, who has averaged just 26 in his past six Tests.

Steyn, in his extensive handwritten study notes on Australia's batsmen, has noticed that Hayden's feet are not moving as quickly as they once were.

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 : Bullying in workplace is more rampant in Australia than in the schoolyard, according to an expert.

Grade four students across 40 countries were surveyed in the US-based Trends in International and Mathematics and Science Study. It found that Australia was in the worst category in the world.

The study revealed that more than a quarter of all students in Australia had been bullied.

Evelyn Field said that as a country Australia was not setting the best example and a community approach together with new laws against bullying were needed to stamp out the problem.

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.

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.