Who is the best fast bowler in the world?

It's a question that South Africa legend Mike Procter says will be answered at the end of this summer's red-hot Test series between his countrymen and England.

Proteas paceman Dale Steyn tops the ICC Test bowling rankings, while England swing king James Anderson sits in third behind Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal.

Former seamer Procter thinks that Steyn and Anderson will definitively prove which of them is the finest quick on the planet over the next month or so.

But he told Cricket AM that he has slight fears over whether the South Africa star will be in tip-top shape ahead of the first Test at The Oval, which begins on Thursday.

"South Africa have Dale Steyn who is number one in the world and rightly so," said Procter, who took over 1,400 first-class wickets during a glittering career.

"He has a magnificent action and his wrist position reminds me of [New Zealand great] Richard Hadlee; it's really pronounced which allows him to get a lot of movement in the air.

Ring rusty

"Anderson is up there and this series will prove who is the best, and my only worry with Steyn is that he is a bit ring rusty. South Africa haven't played a lot of five-day cricket in some time and he is the sort of guy that needs to play and bowl a lot in the middle."

Procter says he cannot wait for England and South Africa to lock horns and believes it is refreshing to see two cricketing superpowers at the top of the game, as opposed to one.

"I really think this is one of the most exciting series in quite some time," said the man from Durban. "It's the heavyweight championship of the world: it's Cassius Clay v Sonny Liston.

"In the previous 20 or 30 years you have had Australia dominating under Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, and prior to that we had the West Indies, who were a really powerhouse side with their four fast bowlers.

"But now we've got two sides of high quality; seven quality batters in each side and four quality bowlers - and five for South Africa with Jacques Kallis."

Better life

South Africa were banished from international cricket throughout the 1970s and '80s due the apartheid regime, something that restricted Procter's impact on the global stage.

The one-time quick appeared in just seven Test matches, each of them against Australia, in which he accrued 41 wickets at an average of a notch over 15.

Procter, however, is not bitter that he wasn't able to showcase his talents to their fullest, and says a lack of international recognition allowed him to put his efforts into performing with Gloucestershire, for whom he played with distinction for in the '60s and '70s.

"If I'm honest, it hasn't bothered me [that I did not play much international cricket] as what is one person's Test career as opposed to 40million people having a better life?" he said.

"I was fortunate to play for Gloucestershire for many, many years and I also played in a number of 'Rest of the World' sides with guys like Sir Gary Sobers, Lance Gibbs, Graeme and Peter Pollock, and Barry Richards.

"County cricket made my life; I had 13 years over here and wanted to do well for Gloucestershire, a side not really recognised on the county circuit in those days. Two win two trophies with them was awesome."

For Procter's views on the international career of Mark Boucher and more, hit the video at the top of the screen.