The Hindu : The resurrection of Lee

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 02, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

The resurrection of Lee

The obituaries that have been written this summer announcing the early demise of Brett Lee as a credible fast bowler look as though they may have been premature. He demonstrated in the best way possible at the WACA, Perth, on Sunday that he is back with a vengeance. His first spell against the Indian top order was as good as it gets.

Operating at speeds in excess of 150 kmph, Lee maintained an excellent line and length as he first beat then dismissed the titans of the Indian one-day line-up — Tendulkar and Laxman. Both were caught behind and the length beat them as much as the pace. This was something Lee was rarely able to do in the recent Test series.

Perth is just about the best wicket in the world to bowl fast but it is still important to bowl well. As Lee, and the classy Indian batsmen demonstrated during the Test matches, pace alone will not get good players out. It needs to be allied with intelligent use of line and length according to the prevailing conditions or it can be worse than useless. Good players will use the pace to their advantage if they are served up wide, short or full deliveries as Lee did on a regular basis in the Tests at Melbourne and Sydney.

Some thought that Lee was brought back too quickly after injury and as evidenced by his performance at Perth that may have been the case. His rhythm and balance were both excellent in the first five overs. His pace dropped off noticeably in the sixth over but it would have been tempting to keep him going for an extra over with Ganguly at the crease.

Lee has been the one who has done most to destroy Ganguly's early summer confidence and hence it is interesting to compare their relative state of mind and how it has affected their ability to perform at their best.

Ganguly started the summer in Brisbane with a clear intention of what he wanted to do. Consequently his footwork was precise as was his timing and shot selection. Once Lee came back into the Australian team in Melbourne, Ganguly has appeared to be mentally confused and unclear of what his intentions should be.

In that frame of mind his footwork has been tentative and he has been at sixes and sevens against most bowlers. This has particularly been the case in the VB Series and he is looking more and more frustrated with each innings he plays. Ganguly seems to have many thoughts running through his head at the moment and so has no clear intention of action. Until he gets back to what he was doing in Brisbane I doubt that he will enjoy either his batting or much success.

Lee, on the other hand, came back from his lay-off having played two domestic first class games back to back, but otherwise he was under-prepared. If he has a problem I think it is that he runs in too fast on occasions and this affects his ability to gather himself in a balanced position at the bowling crease. Consequently, his pace varies and so does his line and length.

It was always my belief that all he needed to do was to decide that he wanted to be more than just a tearaway fast bowler and his form would return quickly. By intending to bowl with some control, Lee's balance and rhythm have returned with a measured run up and he has more time to gather himself at the bowling crease. On Sunday, not only did his control improve but he also bowled at a more consistent pace. If Lee can maintain this focus he will become one of the great fast bowlers of all time.

Once Lee had removed Tendulkar and Laxman the Indian innings never reached any great heights. Sehwag showed that his ability had not diminished during his injury break but he fell in a typical fashion, caught in the deep. He had punished anything loose from Gillespie early, only to fall flashing a short ball over the gully to Lee at third man. Another few metres and it would have been a six.

Nothing much went India's way after that as Dravid fell victim to the Perth bounce, Ganguly snicked Bichel through to the 'keeper and Rohan Gavaskar was bowled via his pads by Lee's warm-up ball at the start of his second spell. Only Yuvraj showed the necessary talent to fashion an innings of some substance but not before he had taken blows on his helmet and his elbow. Some poor running that cost Agarkar his wicket spoilt his classy cameo.

The good news for India is that it will not have to come back to Perth again for a few years. It won't play on anything like this wicket in the finals but the Indians will need to get themselves back on track mentally if they are to give Australia a run for its money. The Australians are committed to finishing off the season on a good note before they head to Sri Lanka on the way to a rematch in India later this year.

India will not want to let the tour end badly for fear that all the good work that has been evident for much of this tour will be wasted in the shadow of its departure from Australia. That would be an injustice as well as a great shame.

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