The Bayview hotel in Gladesville isn't the obvious setting for a life-changing experience; short of a big win on the pokies, perhaps, or a winning Rick Astley medley on retro night. Certainly, Brett Lee wasn't expecting any kind of philosophical overhaul when he walked in the Victoria Road entrance one evening last October.
Frustrated by his inconsistent form at Test and first-class level, Lee scheduled a chat with Mark Taylor, who lives near the pub. He hoped to talk through some ideas and, maybe, take home some sound advice from the former Australian captain and current Channel Nine commentator. He instead had an epiphany.
Over the course of the conversation, Taylor told Lee he lacked patience. Sure, he could blast a batsman out. But could he think a batsman out? Set him up? Identify a weakness? Exploit it?
Intrigued, Lee thanked Taylor and headed home, eager to get to the SCG the next morning for a Pura Cup game against South Australia. "There were two instances that really stood out, two turning points in that match and for the months ahead," Lee said.
"With the first one, I was thinking about bowling a bouncer but stopped myself and told myself to be patient. I put a ball on a good length and got the batsman out nicking. Then a couple of overs later, I was really thinking about setting the batsman up. I held off the short stuff and used the bouncer as more of a shock weapon. I got him out, too."
From there? Lee went on to claim 31 wickets at 25.74 in Tests against the West Indies and South Africa, far and away his best Test figures since his early years as a raw, relatively unknown tearaway.
Barely a year after an 18-month Test exile, Lee had suddenly become the fast bowler Australia had hoped for. And it came at the most opportune of times, with Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz gone, Shaun Tait injured and Glenn McGrath experiencing the closest he has come to an indifferent series for a decade.
While Lee's statistics are in stark contrast to those posted in the previous five years, so too has been his on-field demeanour. He snarls more, smiles less. The beaming bloke on the Weet-Bix box was suddenly, breathtakingly, showing all the traits of a hard-nosed, intimidating fast bowler.
"I think in recent times I have smiled too much, and smiled on the wrong occasions," he said. "Bowling is about intimidation. That's not just about sledging but the way you stare at a batsman, the way you bowl, your general mannerisms. There is nothing wrong with that, so long as you don't cross that line.
- ALEX BROWN