South African pace spearhead Dale Steyn says the Proteas are on a high but Australia’s batting lineup won’t be easy to knock over in their keenly-anticipated three-Test series.

The Proteas arrived in Sydney on Sunday to begin a which includes Tests in Brisbane (November 9-13), Adelaide (November 22-26) and Perth (November 30-December 4).

World No.1 South Africa are two places and four points ahead of the Australians in the ICC Test rankings after securing top spot from England when they beat them in England earlier this year.

Steyn, who is the No.1 ranked pace bowler in the world, was a member of the Proteas team that won their last Test series in Australia.

“What was it, four years ago? That confidence has kind of gone,” Steyn said at Sydney Airport.

“We enjoyed our tour here last time so hopefully we can repeat that.

“We’ve played some good cricket recently in England and the team is on a high.

“But it’s a new tour. You never know, We’ve just got to come out and perform well.”

While Steyn held sway over Ricky Ponting and the Australian batting lineup last time, he was cautious when asked if the Proteas were going to knock over the former Australian captain again.

“None of the boys will be a knock over. This is going to be another hard tour I think,” he said.

Steyn came through customs with Vernon Philander, the man just below him in the ICC bowling rankings.

Philander will be bowling in Australia for the first time and Steyn said he expected him to “do fine”.

Asked about coming up against Mickey Arthur, who is coaching Australia after holding down a similar position with South Africa, Steyn said: “I love Mickey. It’s going to be funny.”