South Africa‘s in-form strike bowler Dale Steyn has fired a frightening warning to the England batsmen talking up his new-ball partner Morne Morkel as a scary prospect.

“I expect something big from Morne on this tour,” Steyn told The Wisden Cricketer. “He’s just getting better, bigger, stronger, faster. He’s even starting to scare me.

“I know he’s done well for Kent and Yorkshire and in English club cricket and he’s starting to make that opening partnership with me his own.”

“Morne is tall, fast and gets unbelievable bounce. To have him towering over you from a few yards away can’t be nice. He’s a bloke who can get it down at 145 clicks [90mph] and at the other end is a skiddy guy swinging it at 145 clicks.

“We’re two different arsenals, if you like, and we can both be quicker than the other on our day. I can hardly wait.”

When pressed further on who is the quickest of the two, Steyn, now the world’s number two-ranked bowler after an incredible last nine months which has seen him soar to 120 wickets from just 23 Tests, was none the wiser.

“That’s a tough call,” he said. “It’s funny because, when I get a bit of fire in my arse, I can really get it through but we’re different kinds of bowlers. I’ve done so well recently swinging it late.”

The two bowlers are expected to make up a four-man pace attack in Thursday’s first Test against England at Lord’s along with Makhaya Ntini and Jacques Kallis.