Melbourne, Dec 31 (IANS) Australia’s former Test pace spearhead Brett Lee has praised the latest pace sensation James Pattinson, and has said he should continue his combative, intimidatory approach against India in the Test series.
Lee said the 21-year-old Pattinson should not be deterred from using his mouth as a weapon against India.
Pattinson was man of the match in Australia’s 122-run first Test win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He was warned for bouncing tail-ender Zaheer Khan on the fourth and final day and earlier was involved in a heated exchange of words with Virender Sehwag in the middle.
‘I think it’s controlled aggression and, as a fast bowler, you have to be in the batsman’s face,’ Lee said.
Lee said Pattinson was full of confidence and should be careful not to cross the line.
‘There’s a line that we know you can’t cross, but as long as no one is being racially vilified or being sworn at, so the kids at home can see it, it’s Test cricket, so it’s meant to be nice, hard, competitive cricket. It’s great to see him steaming in. He’s obviously full of confidence and he’s got his tail up and he’s bowling fast and taking wickets,’ Lee was quoted as saying by The Age.
Lee applauded Pattinson’s fearless attitude but said that in future, the young bowler will have to pick and choose his moments to agitate batsmen.
‘I think when you’re bowling at different batsmen around the world, you act differently. Some blokes, you can get right in their faces; some blokes, you’ve got to pull back with, because they actually enjoy that,’ he said.
Lee said Pattinson has all the features to become a good fast bowler.
‘You look at his mannerisms now – he’s confident, he’s hitting the crease hard and I think that’s really important for a young fast bowler. He’s got a really good fast bowler’s make-up: strong legs, strong shoulders and he takes the ball away from the right-hander. If he can do that at over 140km/h, then you’re doing pretty well,’ he said.
Lee is happy with the depth in Australian pace attack.
‘Australia have got some pretty amazing bowling stocks at the moment. The guys have done well collectively as a team. It’s not like they were only bowling well from one end. They’ve been used very cleverly by Michael Clarke. He hasn’t over-bowled them, he knows that it’s so important to keep them fresh. Ryan Harris is a class act and you’ve got guys like Pat Cummins and Mitchell Johnson to come back… Unfortunately six or seven bowlers don’t go into three spots,’ he said.
