AUSTRALIAN speed merchant Brett Lee says he will dish out the chin music instead of "getting too funky" against Bangladeshi batsman in the first Test starting next week in Darwin.
The blond tear-away has spent the past two weeks soft-sand running and pumping weights on the Gold Coast, interspersed by nationwide gigs with his rock band Six and Out.
Lee, by his own admission, has a "dislike of long lay-offs" and is ready to rumble.
Asked if the Bangladeshi's could expect some chin music in Darwin, Lee said: "I am sure if I was to sit down with them they would want the full team to play and the fast bowlers to come in at full pace.
"That's the way they can get better and learn more against a side that does it pretty well.
"If we start getting too funky and not give it to them full throttle it would be a negative for Australian cricket and it wouldn't give them the chance to improve.
"Of course, some stuff might happen but I am going to treat them like any top quality batsman."
Lee, with 119 wickets at 29.52 from 31 Tests is embracing a key role in an ageing Australian pace attack.
"My most important game is the next game I'll have which starts on July 18 in Darwin. That's the game I've been training for. I don't look too far down the track," Lee, 26, said.
"I'm maturing as a fast bowler and I've been given a bit more of a role to play in the Australian team.
"A bit more responsibility came up last year with a few injuries floating around. It's my chance to put my hand up and prove what I can do."
Informed that Darwin's drop-in Test strip prepared by Melbourne Cricket Club arena manager Tony Ware could play slow, Lee said: "Don't tell me that, I was hoping it would be nice and quick!"
But Lee's recent Caribbean odyssey, in which he took 17 wickets in four matches on "flat tracks", has prepared him for any lack of pace in Marrara Oval's drop-in pitch.
"Any type of wicket up there won't be half as slow as the West Indies wickets," he said.
"It could be slow in Darwin but we have learnt a lot as far as fast bowlers go over the last few months in the West Indies. Any type of drop in wickets, providing they get the right surface and the match nice and flat, there will be no trouble.
"It will be sweet."
-RICHARD EARLE