Australia has done it again. Just when it was shopping for a fast bowler to raise his hand and his game, Brett Lee has emerged as spearhead of the next generation.
Since the early 1970s when a rampaging Dennis Lillee rocked the cricket world, Australia has had a knack of producing a fast bowling leader when it needed one.
The spearhead baton has passed through the hands of Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Geoff Lawson, Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes and Glenn McGrath on to Lee.
There has been the occasional fumble and stumble but, remarkably, no major breaks in the chain.
Man-of-the-match Lee proved in the first Test against Sri Lanka he was motivated rather than intimidated by the challenge of replacing McGrath when he took match figures 8-112 at the Gabba.
His return is even more impressive because it came on a deck which was never the fast bowlers' friend.
It was not a fluke. His game has been on the rise since the 2005 Ashes series and his career can now be split into three distinct categories.
The first were the first seven supercharged Tests of his career in which he netted 42 wickets at 16.
Then came four modest years between the 2001-05 Ashes series in which he took 97 wickets at 38 from 30 Tests.
And now the revival which has netted him 80 wickets at 27 in 18 Tests thanks to more thought and patience.
No longer is he just a muscle man with a mandate to run wild.
"Brett led the attack very well. He thoroughly deserved his man of the match award," said captain Ricky Ponting.
"I wouldn't mind that from him every game. I felt he had a very mature outlook on things in this game. He dropped his pace back at certain times when he needed to get into some line and length. He stopped the momentum of the game a little bit.
"Then an opportunity came along this morning with the tail. He bowled a lot quicker this morning. He unsettled their tail and knocked over a few of their tailenders.
"The way he approached this game was fantastic. He has been growing into this role for a while now. He's been doing it for a long while in one-day cricket and the last couple of years in Test cricket you can just see there has been steady improvement there and a bit more knowledge and know-how how he is going to get blokes out. That helped him a lot.
"If he can keep maintaining those sorts of performances I will be very happy."
Even though he had off-season ankle surgery following a fall in New Zealand, Lee felt the game was the result of a continuation of his improvement rather than a quantum leap forward.
"There was nothing different to what I have done recently," Lee said. "I was really happy with the way I bowled. I just tried to maintain my patience the whole Test match. I was working on that. The wickets came which was great.
"It has definitely been different not having Glenn around. Glenn has been texting us over the past few nights and wishing the fast bowlers good luck."
Lee paid tribute to Australian fast bowling coach Troy Cooley who has helped him develop fresh tactics including different grips and varying positions on the crease.
"Troy has played a great role in helping the quicks. He is a pretty laid back sort of character who definitely knows his stuff. He is a very knowledgeable coach and is great to have in the camp," Lee said.
- ROBERT CRADDOCK