The last time Dale Steyn played against Australia Down Under was in an ODI match in Melbourne that South Africa lost by 59 runs. The speedster racked up terrible figures of one for 58 in five overs in that clash, his only saving grace being the prized scalp of Andrew Symonds that fateful day at the Docklands Stadium.

Now, two years and a whole lot of international experience the wiser, the 25-year-old fast bowler hopes to erase that poor performance with an impressive showing in the upcoming Test series and subsequent one-dayers.

Having racked up 60 wickets in 11 matches in 2008, Steyn is looking to build on his superb year by kicking the series off against the Aussies with more of the same.

"I look back on that game as probably the most important of my career," Steyn told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I remember walking off the field embarrassed, and feeling unworthy of even being on the field. It was a terrible feeling, and I've used it to motivate me ever since.

"I had only played a handful of Tests, and was thrown in the deepest end imaginable against what was the best one-day side in the world at the time.

"It showed me exactly what I needed to do to compete with the best, and forced me to go back to the nets and work hard on my game until I got it right. I refer back to that game often, and I think in the long run it probably helped to make me the bowler I am today."

"I can't wait to get out there and challenge the Australian batsmen and hopefully show that I have come a long way from two or three years ago."

Commenting on the WACA pitch in Brisbane, the venue for the first clash of the four-Test series, Steyn enthused of "the ball flying past noses and really pinging into the keepers' gloves."