BRETT LEE helped ease the burden of blame from Michael Kasprowicz's shoulders yesterday but plans to keep breathing down his neck for a Test spot with another fiery one-day spell tomorrow.
Lee heads to the SCG for the second match in the Chappell-Hadlee series with his tail up after a strong performance in a much-anticipated return to Australian colours.
Bowling white bullets of up to 156k/ph, the blond quick took the key wickets of Stephen Fleming and Chris Cairns in what he hoped was an audition for a Test berth against Pakistan in Perth.
Back in Sydney yesterday, Lee defended Kasprowicz and his "over from hell" but said he hoped he would not be rotated out of the side as he guns for his main ambition - a Test recall.
"You can't blame Kasper. We have all been through that. That particular over, these things happen in one-day cricket," he said. "The most important thing was trying to contain their runs and when their lower order batsman got a couple of runs off Kasper's over, unfortunately, it set the mood, and they kept it rolling.
"He will be feeling a bit down but he has had a great [Test] series so far, so his confidence should be sky-high. We know he's a great bowler who will come back from it."
Despite the encouragement, there was no hiding the opportunism in Lee at North Sydney Oval yesterday.
Having acted as 12th man for the Indian and New Zealand Test series - after an interrupted year of injury - Lee repeatedly expressed his confidence at regaining a Test spot for the pace-friendly WACA wicket next week.
"It was great playing for Australia again, I had worked really hard to get back in the colours of green and gold so I was really happy to be out there," he said. "But my most important aim is to get back in the Test team."
Asked if his eight overs at the Telstra Dome - with figures of 2-40 - were a step in the right direction, Lee said he was confident he'd made progress.
"The only thing I can do is perform the best when I get the opportunity. That's what I did last night. Hopefully they are happy with how I bowled. Definitely the pace was back and it's feeling really good," he said.
"I wouldn't want to be rotated.
"I have been out of the Australian team for a long time now and I am looking forward to playing as much cricket as possible."
Having now defeated Australia twice in succession in the one-day arena, Lee paid credit to New Zealand.
"There is always fight in the Kiwis. You never write them off," he said.
"They are a very competitive side and [tomorrow] they're going to be full of confidence. We have to make sure we do change our game plan to a certain extent."
- IAIN PAYTEN