Steyn's Asian marvel

Over the next few weeks, South Africa will want to protect a record that they have been immensely proud of over the last several years: since the beginning of 2007 they haven't lost an overseas series, winning ten (including a one-off Test against Zimbabwe), and drawing five. They are easily the best travellers in world cricket today, with an 18-5 win-loss record in Tests during this period, which is well clear of all other teams. If the UAE is taken as home venue for Pakistan, the next-best record in away Tests belongs to Australia, with 18 wins and 22 defeats (win-loss ratio 0.82, compared with South Africa's 3.60). (Pakistan's record outside the UAE during this period drops to 12-21; in the UAE it's 10-3.)

South Africa's record in Asia is a big part of their overseas success during this period: they have a 7-3 win-loss record in 17 Tests here, and three wins in eight series. That win-loss ratio of 2.33 in Asia is next only to India's 3.62 among all teams, and well clear of the other non-subcontinent teams: England have a 5-8 record, New Zealand 3-7 and Australia 1-10.

A big reason for South Africa's phenomenal successes in Asia is their pace attack. They average 28.54 in Asia since 2007, well clear of all other teams. In 17 Tests in Asia during this period, South Africa's fast bowlers have taken 171 wickets at 28.54; the next best by any team is 35.57, by India, which means the fast bowlers from all other teams have been at least 25% worse than the South Africans. Among the non-Asian teams, West Indies and England come in next with averages in the mid-30s, while the Australian and New Zealand pace attacks have averaged around 40. Clearly, South Africa have found a way to crack the Asian conditions like no other overseas team has.

Much of the reason for the success of South Africa's pace pack during this period is the performance of their leader, who is on the threshold of a major milestone: Dale Steyn already has 90 Test wickets in Asia, and ten more will make him the first overseas fast bowler to take 100 wickets in the continent; the next best is Courtney Walsh with 77. Steyn's average is up there with the likes of Malcolm Marshall, Glenn McGrath and Richard Hadlee, while his strike rate of 39.7 is better than anyone who has taken 20-plus wickets (among overseas fast bowlers). Among all fast bowlers with 25-plus wickets in Asia, only Waqar Younis has a better strike rate.

Steyn has had his share of success in Bangladesh, taking 20 wickets at 14.20, but even excluding those games his average in Asia is 24.65. Excluding Tests in Bangladesh, Steyn is fourth in the list of all-time top wicket-takers among overseas fast bowlers in Asia, after Walsh, McGrath and Marshall.

Seventeen of Steyn's 19 Tests in Asia have been since 2007, and during that period he has performed even better, taking 82 wickets at 20.95. The next best for South Africa during this period is Morne Morkel, with 39 wickets at 33.20; the next highest wicket-taker among all overseas fast bowlers is James Anderson, with 43 at 30.76. Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Broad both average more than 40 in 12 Tests in Asia, and while New Zealand's duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee have done better, they still don't match up to Steyn's standards.

Even excluding his four Tests in Bangladesh during this period, Steyn has 62 wickets from 13 games, at 23.12, which is still the best among these bowlers, while his strike rate of 41.8 is about twice as good as those of Johnson and Broad.

For a bowler who has achieved so much success in Asia, Steyn's first Test in the continent wasn't an auspicious one, for him or for the team. Against Sri Lanka at the SSC Stadium in Colombo, Steyn and the rest of the South African attack was quite helpless as the home team amassed 756 for 5, including a world record 624-run stand between Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Steyn took three of those five wickets, but went for 129 in 26 overs, his most expensive figures in any innings where he has bowled 20 or more overs. In the next Test he took a five-for, but in the fourth innings when Sri Lanka needed 352 to win, Steyn returned figures of none for 81 as the home team sneaked to a one-wicket win.

Since then, though, Steyn's, and South Africa's, memories of Asia are much happier. South Africa have won seven Tests here since the beginning of 2007, and in four of those Steyn has taken a five-for. In fact, in the first of those seven wins, against Pakistan in Karachi in October 2007, Steyn took 5 for 56 in Pakistan's second innings to help South Africa to a 160-run win. Since then, he has taken five-fors against India in Ahmedabad and Nagpur, and against Sri Lanka in Galle. In those seven Tests involving Steyn that South Africa have won in Asia, he has taken 52 wickets at an average of 13.25; the next highest wicket-taker in those Tests is Morne Morkel with 20. In the 12 Tests that South Africa haven't won, Steyn has only 38 wickets at 34.76.

Steyn's Test record in each country in Asia

Host country	Tests	Wickets	Average	SR	5WI
Bangladesh	4	20	14.20	30.3	0
India	5	26	20.23	34.5	2
Pakistan	2	9	24.66	37.0	1
Sri Lanka	4	21	24.71	39.0	2
U.A.E.	4	14	32.78	65.2	0

Dale Steyn's Test record in Asia

Result	Tests	Wickets	Average	SR	5WI
In Wins	7	52	13.25	26.8	4
In draws and losses	12	38	34.76	57.2	1

It's clear that Steyn's performances have, to a large extent, shaped South Africa's results in Asia over the last eight years. In the four Tests to come over the next five weeks, Steyn will want to do a lot more than merely become the first overseas fast bowler to take 100 Test wickets in Asia.