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Lee sends SOS to Lillee

SYDNEY, JAN. 10. Australian fast bowler Brett Lee has sent an SOS to Dennis Lillee to fly over at his expense to Sydney and help him come out of his current bowling rut ahead of the Australia-Zimbabwe day-night tie of the triangular series here on Sunday.

Lee rang up Lillee last week and arranged to fly him over from Western Australia as it became clear that he would be selected for Sunday's one-day International.

The pacer struggled with his run-up in the Sydney Test, sending down 37 no-balls and his haul of four for 201 in India's 700-plus total was only the second time an Australian bowler had conceded that many runs.

Lee averaged nearly 60 for his eight wickets in the last two Tests of the series and was rested for the first one-dayer against India at the MCG on Friday, which captain Ricky Ponting put down to ``too much bowling in recent weeks.''

But Lee is set to return and he has asked for help from a bowling legend who nurtured him as an aspiring fast bowler a decade ago.

Confirming the move, Lee's brother Shane Lee, who also represented Australia in one-dayers, said it could spark off the floundering career of the genuinely quick bowler.

"Brett's paying for that out of his own pocket, so it's something he's obviously taking seriously and wants to fix it. He wants Lillee to work on the run-up and the no-balls,'' Shane said.

``Looking at his action (against India) I thought it was pretty good. People forget it is not easy coming back from injury, especially when you go straight into a Test against probably the best top six batsmen in the world on flat wickets,'' remarked Shane Lee.

Lee's call for Lillee is seen as a grey area of Australian national team which still does not employ a full-time bowling coach — an aspect which is followed by even a cash strapped team like Zimbabwe.

With the Australian bowling attack in a transitional stage, proper guidance is required for young bowlers like Lee, Nathan Bracken and Brad Williams to fulfil their potential.

They do not need to look any further than India for the dividends such a move could pay. Since Bruce Reid joined the visitors as a bowling coach, leg spinner Anil Kumble (three), pacers Ajit Agarkar (one) and Zaheer Khan (one) registered five-wicket hauls in the Test series, something which has not happened to an Indian cricket team on an away series for a long time. — PTI

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