Brett Lee went to India late last month in a bid to shore up his chances of being selected in the team to play India in the first Test, the fast bowler revealed yesterday.
Lee paid his own expenses for the trip to Chennai, where he spent a day at the MRF Pace Foundation working with former Indian fast bowler Javagal Srinath, before playing two games for the Australian Cricket Academy against local teams.
Lee, who was selected for the ICC Champions Trophy and India tour after months on the sideline through injury, appears locked in a battle with Michael Kasprowicz for the third fast bowling position behind Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath.
However, the 27-year-old paceman is not letting himself feel pressured. He believes the five-day trip to India, where he is yet to play a Test, places him in as good a position as possible.
"I wanted to learn more about playing there and I really got a lot out of that tour," Lee told The Sun-Herald from England yesterday.
"It was a chance to get used to the heat and to work on reverse swing, which I tended to get in the latter overs, which was pretty exciting.
"That doesn't happen a lot in Australia. But on the dry pitches in India, where the ball gets scuffed up, it's important to know how to control it."
Lee said fitness trainer Jock Campbell had been putting the Australian team through a tough regime of heat training, an area in which Lee got a head start by playing in 40 degrees in Chennai.
"It was quite funny the other day," he said. "We were in a gym in London, it was about 25 degrees here and we were training hard wearing trackies, three shirts and a beanie, really sweating it out. We got a few strange looks but it was all about the India tour for us."
Lee's tussle with Kasprowicz, a proven performer on the subcontinent, is certain to be a key component when selectors announce the team for the first Test. However, the pair get along well and regularly swap ideas on how best to bowl in the various conditions they will face over the next two months.
"We're always working on new things," Lee said. "Two heads are better than one and we are all about winning for Australia, no matter who is playing. At the moment we're focused on winning here in England but I'm sure as the India tour approaches, we'll talk more about bowling there."
- DAVID SYGALL