JOHANNESBURG (AFP)
Axed one-day skipper Steve Waugh vowed to take the fight to South Africa in the three-Test series as the Australian team jetted into Johannesburg for the start of their tour.

"I'm obviously looking forward to Test cricket," a tense and drawn-looking Waugh said at a press conference at Johannesburg International Airport shortly after the team's arrival. Australia's selectors dropped him as one-day captain on Wednesday in a move seen as the most significant player change in Australian cricket since Mark Taylor was dumped as one-day captain almost five years ago in favour of Waugh.

Waugh's position as national one-day skipper has been under scrutiny after Australia failed to reach the finals of the VB Series. "I'm not in the one-day side any more so it is not really for me to comment too much on that. I just want to make sure we play good Test match cricket," said Waugh, who faced a grilling from the media about his sacking.

Asked whether the announcement by the Australian Cricket Board would have an influence on Australia's performance on its South African tour, Waugh said: "I don't know if it's ever a good time to get dropped. This is not an ideal time at the beginning of a series."

But he vowed to take the fight to the South Africans in the three-Test series. "We played very well in Australia. We're here to win these Test matches, that's all that's on our minds. If we can do that, if we can achieve that, we stay number one," he said.

Referring to Australia's recent 3-0 Test drubbing of South Africa, Waugh said the final scores had been a fair reflection of the way both countries played. "It was a tough series. We won three-nil, but we played excellent cricket, as good as we ever played, so I think that's a fair indication of the scoreline. South Africa didn't play as well as they would have liked but I know its going to be a little different over here," he added.

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