Lyon eyeing prized AB wicket

Cape Town - Australian spinner Nathan Lyon says he is looking forward to bowling to Proteas star bowler AB de Villiers ahead of the four-match Test series.

The off-spinner described De Villiers as a "world-class player", saying it will be a massive challenge to bowl against him.

"AB is a world-class player. He has been for a long time and it showed by his consistency. He's scored runs all around the world and probably brings calmness to their middle order," said Lyon.

"It will be a massive challenge for me, especially if he's batting for long periods of time.

"We will sit down and work out plans to interrupt his series. But he's a world-class player as I said before and I always want to challenge myself against the best batsmen in the world and AB de Villiers is one of the best of the world," he said.

"It's going to be a hell of a series and exciting, as I keep saying."

The first Test between the Proteas and Australia starts in Durban on Thursday (10:00).

Squads:

Proteas Test squad

Faf du Plessis (Titans, captain), Hashim Amla (Cape Cobras), Temba Bavuma (Cape Cobras), Quinton de Kock (Titans), Theunis de Bruyn (Knights), AB de Villiers (Titans), Dean Elgar (Titans), Heinrich Klaasen (Titans), Keshav Maharaj (Dolphins), Aiden Markram (Titans), Morne Morkel (Titans), Wiaan Mulder (Highveld Lions), Lungisani Ngidi (Titans), Vernon Philander (Cape Cobras), Kagiso Rabada (Highveld Lions)

Australia Test squad

Steve Smith (captain), David Warner (vice-captain), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine (wkt), Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Test fixtures:

March 1-5 - 1st Test, Kingsmead

March 9-13 - 2nd Test, St. George's Park

March 22-26 - 3rd Test, Newlands

March 30-April 3 - 4th Test, Wanderers