Lee unlocks secret of reverse swing; stakes claim for Ashes selection

MELBOURNE - Australian speedster Brett Lee boosted his selection chances for the first Ashes Test starting Wednesday at Cardiff with a burst of five for 21 in 40 balls in a practice match against Englad Lions at Worcester.

The veteran paceman, who is making a comeback in the Test side after an ankle and foot injury, Thursday rediscovered his old raw pace and also made the best use of the old ball to unlock the secrets of reverse swing, something that England bowlers did effectively to win the Ashes in 2005 after 18 years.

Lee was happy with they way he moved the old ball and said: “If you look back to 2005, what let us down and what affected us with our batting was we couldn’t really keep out the ball and we couldn’t work out a way to get it to swing. It’s good now that the bowlers all got a chance to do that today. That was the key in 2005.”

“Everyone stuck to their plans. We had a couple of different ideas we wanted to work on today, in particular the ball. We wanted to get the ball to swing early on, try and rough it up and get the ball to come back in later on. That worked a treat. I always enjoy bowling when the ball is like that. I’ve had great fitness and that’s starting to shine through now, hopefully. I was happy with the way I bowled and I want to pitch in and do a bit more tomorrow,” Lee was quoted as saying in The Age.

Fast bowling legend Michael Holding, who is in England as a commentator for the Ashes, was impressed with Lee’s form.

“I liked what I saw. Everyone has been saying Brett Lee has been injured and coming back into the game he might not be on top of his game. He looked good out there. He bowled the fastest ball of the match so far and some very, very quick spells,” Holding said.