Champagne on ice for winged Steyn

Former Proteas paceman Shaun Pollock will have to wait at least six months to deliver Dale Steyn the congratulatory bottle of champagne he had in readiness for passing his record as South Africa’s greatest ever wicket-taker.

Quick Single: Injured Steyn out for the series

Steyn needed six scalps to eclipse Pollock’s mark of 421 Test wicket before this first Commonwealth Bank Test in Perth, but after dismissing David Warner midway through the morning session on day two, the 33-year-old broke down with a shoulder injury and immediately left the field.

An MRI scan later that day revealed a fracture in his right bowling shoulder that has subsequently ruled Steyn out for the remainder of the series, but Pollock is hopeful he’ll have the opportunity to share some record-breaking bubbles in the near future with the bowler he considers to be South Africa’s finest.

"In all honesty I’ve got a bottle of champagne in my hotel room that I was going to present to him (Steyn), because I thought it was only a matter of time (before he broke the record),” Pollock told ABC Grandstand radio on Saturday.

"Hopefully he can get back, he’s been our premier guy. He deserves to be the leading wicket-taker in our country.

"Since readmission he’s been the ultimate strike bowler ... the best Test bowler we’ve produced.

"There’s no doubt about that and he deserves records. I hope he bounces back."

Quick Single: 'Thud, pop' and Steyn's future is clouded

If Steyn’s career ended today – and let’s hope that’s not the case – he would go down in the history books as perhaps Test cricket’s most lethal fast bowler.

No bowler with more than 150 Test wickets has a better strike rate than Steyn, who takes a wicket every 41.4 deliveries, a better clip than greats Waqar Younis, Malcolm Marshall and compatriot Allan Donald.

While Steyn has given no indication he will retire after his latest setback, he says he will take his time with his recovery after admitting he may have rushed back early having injured the same shoulder against England almost 12 months ago.

"I did something very similar against England in December in a similar areas but it wasn’t as bad," Steyn told Wide World of Sports on day three.

"That was a stress reaction which is like a very hairline small little crack, this time it’s more of a fracture so it’s kind of broken the whole bone.

"I’ll probably look to have surgery and put a plate in there and get the bone back together.

"We’re probably looking at a minimum of six months before I’m going up again.

"The last time took about three months and I was up and running and I was able to play everything.

"I’ve been dealing with this thing for quite some time now.

"I probably should have taken a little bit longer. I was wanting to rush and get into that Twenty20 World Cup, I wanted to go to the IPL, I wanted to play.

"This is what I do so I’ll have to take the time (to recover) this time and let it heal properly."