Steyn one of the best ever: Gilly

Test legend Adam Gilchrist played with and against some of cricket's greatest fast bowlers and the game-changing gloveman puts Proteas pace ace Dale Steyn among the best who have ever played.

Steyn spearheads a fearsome South Africa attack featuring gun youngsters Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi into Sunday's opening Gillette Series ODI against Australia at Perth Stadium.

The 35-year-old is a living legend in many respects; in 88 Test matches he has 421 wickets, the equal most for South Africa and dismisses a batter every 42 deliveries, the second lowest strike rate since World War I (min. 100 wickets) behind only his tearaway teammate Rabada.

Few have been capable of bowling in excess of 150kph, swing the ball away from the right-hander and reverse it back in like Steyn has during his 14-year international career.

And that's discounting the intangible aspects the right-armer possesses – his fear factor, his tactical nous and his unrelenting competitiveness.

Gilchrist and Steyn crossed paths at the opposite ends of their careers, but the Australian has seen enough to be convinced there have been few better speedsters. 

"He's got to rank up in the top echelon of fast bowlers ever," Gilchrist told cricket.com.au in Perth on Friday.

"Statistically, he's fantastic. He was just starting to get towards his prime when I was finishing, so it was obviously very challenging for me!

"I've been nothing but impressed by his whole approach and attitude. He seems to just not over complicate it, keeps it simple.

"I've chatted with him a little bit but those who really know him and spend time around him, he's one of the gentleman of the game and nothing but impressive."

Steyn returns to Australia two years after he was ruled out of the first Test at the WACA Ground with a shoulder injury so bad a physician asked whether he had fallen off a motorbike.

Extensive rehab repaired the shoulder, but more injuries would follow, most notably a heel issue that forced him out of the dramatic Test series against Australia earlier this year.

But having played through nearly a full season of County cricket in England this winter and returned to the international arena in both Test and ODI cricket in 2018, the right-armer is back bowling as fast as ever.

"We played against Zimbabwe recently," Steyn told reporters at the WACA Ground on Friday. "I bowled in the high 140(kph)s, hit 150 which I was quite pleased about.

"You ask any bowler where he wants to be hitting speeds, if he bowls 150 he'll tell you about it. I was very happy with that.

"I feel good, body feels nice, I'm happy. I kinda feels weird being back here. The last time I walked off here I honestly didn't know how bad my shoulder was.

"Eight months of physiotherapy and non-stop rehab got me back and I'm very excited to be back here and thank God I'm not playing here at the WACA because I might start crying if I was at the top of my mark.

"It's good to be back."

Australia v Proteas, Gillette ODI series, November 2018

First ODI: Perth Stadium, November 4

Second ODI: Adelaide Oval, November 9

Third ODI: Blundstone Arena, Hobart, November 11

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Chris Morris, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn.