IF THE 3-0 whitewash against the West Indies was indeed the kick-start Australia needed after its Ashes kick in the pants, Brett Lee's metamorphosis as a Test bowler may be one of its most vital components.
Lee began this series as a befuddled quick with a lean body but a ballooning average, a clouded mind as to his role in the Test team and his most effective plan of attack having caused him to misfire in the longer game.
Last night, he proudly reflected on being the best bowler in the three Tests against the West Indies, on wickets and averages, with 18 scalps at 20 runs apiece.
It was the first time Lee had been leading wicket-taker in a series since the three home matches against New Zealand four summers ago, which was also the last time he had taken a five-wicket haul in a Test innings until this series. Back in that series, only five of his 14 wickets were top-order batsmen. This time, 11 of his 18 were in the top four.
Far from causing some of his blond hair to turn grey, the month Lee turned 29 has been one of his best. Today, with Glenn McGrath resting, Shane Warne a Test player only, and Jason Gillespie in state ranks, Lee heads to New Zealand for the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series as unquestionably the leader of the Australian bowling pack.
"I think that's great for him," said his captain, Ricky Ponting. "He's never had that tag in any Australian team he's played in — there's always been a Gillespie or a McGrath ahead of him. He's reached that stage in his career where he understands his own game and knows what he's trying to do."
Ponting said this West Indies series could have been the making of Australia's fastest bowler, who burst into cricket in 1999 but spent 18 months out of the Test team through injuries and the strong form of others until the Ashes series.
"He's certainly getting the results now — he bowled his heart out in the Ashes and didn't get the wickets he deserved," said Ponting of Lee, who managed 20 Ashes wickets, but at an expensive 41.
Ponting likened Lee's Test development to his rebound from worrying one-day form four years ago to become a potent force in the shorter game.
"He's still learning a lot about himself, but he's found something through this series that he knows if he keeps repeating will make him successful. That's very pleasing," Ponting said.
"For an opposition side, it's always nasty to be facing somebody of that sort of pace from someone who's got the ability to swing both the old and new ball."
Lee, who has largely scrapped thoughts of turning himself into foremost a line-and-length bowler, said he was proud to be this series' leading wicket-taker, but said he was more pleased with how it was achieved.
"It was great getting five wickets in Brisbane … but what I was really pleased about was the last two matches, getting wickets on pretty flat wickets," he said. "I've been criticised in the past that I haven't performed at my best on flat wickets. Hopefully I'm starting to prove otherwise now.
"You learn a lot more the more games you play. I haven't really had a chance through Tests to put performances together because I wasn't out there playing day in and day out. I wanted to build on what I did in the Ashes. The results were starting to come over there. Now it's really starting to happen.
"It obviously helps getting wickets. Confidence is such a major thing in cricket. Brisbane was definitely a huge confidence boost.
"It really reinforced the type of stuff I've been trying to do over the last couple of months — good line, good length and decent pace."
- TREVOR MARSHALLSEA