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Beware of Cummins, Proteas

Cape Town -Teenage fast bowler Patrick Cummins has burst on the scene so quickly that Australia's Twenty20 captain Cameron White has not yet seen him in action.

"It's pretty exciting. I saw him bowl in a couple of games on television. Anyone who bowls at 150 [kilometres an hour] is pretty good to watch," White said on Sunday at an arrival media conference ahead of two Twenty20 internationals against South Africa.

"I'm not a big cricket watcher on TV when I'm not playing but those kind of players keep you really interested in the game," added White of the 18-year-old from New South Wales.

"I haven't played with Pat before so I'm really looking forward to seeing him in the flesh and out on the ground. He's got some really good pace."

Cummins and several other Australians will have to make a quick adjustment after playing in the Champions League T20 in India ahead of the first match against South Africa at Newlands here on Thursday.

The second match is at the Wanderers in Johannesburg next Sunday.

"It's not ideal," said White. "But those guys have been playing cricket whereas some of the other guys haven't played much because we're coming out of our winter in Australia."

White cited opening batsman David Warner, who finished his Champions League campaign with two successive centuries.

"David has had some good success against the Proteas and he's one of many dangerous batsmen we have. It's better coming from some hard, competitive cricket than just preparing in the nets."

White said that although it was a young Australian team they had set their sights on winning both matches.

"We've picked the best Twenty20 side we've got available. South Africa are a great team.

"They're resting a couple of players and (injured captain) AB de Villiers will be missed because he's a fantastic player, but there's no doubt they'll be very tough to beat."

White has only been picked for the Twenty20 matches and is not in the squad for the three one-day internationals and two Tests that follow.

"It's just the way it is," he said. "There are only two Twenty20 games in this series so we'll try and do our best in a short stay."

Australian Twenty20 squad: Cameron White (capt), Shane Watson, Doug Bollinger, Patrick Cummins, Aaron Finch, David Hussey, Brett Lee, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Stephen O'Keefe, James Pattinson, Steven Smith, Matthew Wade (wkt), David Warner

Tour fixtures:

October

13 - Twenty20 international, Cape Town

16 - Twenty20 international, Johannesburg

19 - One-day international, Centurion

23 - ODI, Port Elizabeth

28 - ODI, Durban

November

1-4 - South Africa A, Potchefstroom

9-13 - First Test, Cape Town

17-21 - Second Test, Johannesburg

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