Melbourne, Dec. 5 : The hype surrounding South African fast bowler Dale Steyn ahead of his team’s tour of Australia, suggests that Australian cricketers need to very prepared to tackle Allan "White Lightning" Donald’s natural heir.

Steyn has commendably taken over the South African pace bowling throne once occupied by the likes of Donald, Garth Le Roux, Mike Procter, Peter Pollock and Neil Adcock, reports The Age.

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.

Melbourne, Dec. 5: Former International Cricket Council (ICC) CEO Malcolm Speed has played down reports of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) playing a domineering and irresponsible role in the running of world cricket, but acknowledges that if it is doing so, there are processes in place to curtail it.

Melbourne, Dec 5 : A completely different ‘breed’ of virtual humans is being developed by French researchers which will be capable of reading and adapting to our emotions.

Professor Catherine Pelachaud, director of research from the Paris Institute of Technology and colleagues are developing virtual humans, called Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) that can act autonomously in a virtual environment.

With virtual humans becoming a reality, humans would be able to develop long-term relationships with such agents which would not only be able to speak, but will also communicate via facial expressions, head movements, hand gestures and gaze.

Melbourne, Dec. 5 : The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations’ (FICA), which is headed by former Australian off-spinner Tim May, has proposed a security summit to save cricket in the subcontinent following the Mumbai terror attacks.

The issue will top the agenda at the executive meeting of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations’ in Kuala Lumpur next week.

Melbourne, Dec. 5 : Cricket Australia and the players'' union are working towards a revised policy on player workloads to ease fears that stars will decline national contracts to earn big money in flourishing Twenty20 leagues.

Melbourne, Dec. 5 : A musical on Australia’s record breaking leg spinner Shane Warne may not have pleased him, but has certainly tickled the funny bone of everyone else watching it.

According to news. com. au, The Musical, currently showing here, has been described by those watching it as “wild, funny, outrageous, and by the end, surprisingly moving account of the champion spin bowler''s life so far.”