Bowling coach Craig McDermott says Mitchell Johnson threatens to be even harder to face in South Africa than he was during the Ashes.
Australian paceman Johnson returned to form in stunning fashion over summer, swinging the ball superbly and lifting his pace another notch to grab 37 wickets in the 5-0 thumping of England.
South Africa has proven a happy hunting ground for Johnson in the past and he's already made an early impression on this tour.
McDermott, who umpired an intra-squad match in Johannesburg last week, was bedazzled by an incredible delivery that yorked Chris Rogers and cannoned into the stumps.
"At Wanderers the other day, he bowled a little bit better than he did in Australia, particularly with the late swing he's getting here," said McDermott ahead of the first Test in Centurion starting on Wednesday.
"The ball he bowled Chris Rogers was something I've very rarely seen in my 35 years of cricket.
"It was going towards leg stump and knocked over his off stump. It swung unbelievably late.
"He bowled a number of balls like that at the Wanderers the other day.
"That's good for us. It becomes difficult for right-handers who want to leave the ball and left-handers, who think they're going to just clip it off their pads."
McDermott suggested Australia would continue to use Johnson in short bursts during the three-Test series in South Africa.
"That's always been the plan with Mitchell. We wanted to use him as our shock bowler," he said.
"You didn't see Malcolm Marshall and those sort of blokes bowling eight or nine-over spells.
"But he's fit enough, if he's on a roll, to bowl seven or eight-over spells. So we've got the best of both worlds if it is required.
"He probably is the best fast bowler in the world at the moment."
McDermott said keeping Johnson on track and in the form of his life was a simple case of keeping his confidence up.
"I don't treat any of them any differently if they're going bad or good," he said.
