Fast bowler Brett Lee says he's keen to test himself against Indian opener Sachin Tendulkar in the World Cup final after Australian coach John Buchanan dubbed him the new Jeff Thomson of cricket.
The Lee vs. Tendulkar duel looms as the most anticipated head-to-head in the World Cup and the outcome will be determined by who comes out on top _ if India qualifies for Sunday's final at Wanderers.
Tendulkar, the most successful batsman in one-day cricket, leads the runmakers here with a record 586 runs before Thursday's semifinal against Kenya.
Lee has been at his devastating best lately, increasing his haul to 20 wickets as he's tormented opposition batsmen with his blistering pace.
"It would be great to bowl against the world's best batsman," said Lee. "He's a great character. He's tall in stature but he's not really tall in height.
"If you bowl a bad line and length then you just get dispatched. It's pretty hard to bowl to Sachin because no matter where you put the ball, he always seems to find a spot to hit it in." Lee's form with ball has hit a career high since he started to share the new ball with Glenn McGrath since the departure of fast bowler Jason Gillespie with a tendon tear.
"The last four or five months it's been feeling pretty good," said Lee. "I got a bit of a roll on I suppose. We're trying not to look too far ahead.
{{/usCountry}}"The last four or five months it's been feeling pretty good," said Lee. "I got a bit of a roll on I suppose. We're trying not to look too far ahead.
{{/usCountry}}"Something we have worked on is bowling in partnerships. Obviously with Dizzy (Gillespie) going back I've had a chance to bowl with a brand new ball. It has been a big step up." Lee admitted the Australian pace attack was targeting particular batsmen.
"Without giving too much away, we sit down in team meetings and try and have a specific plan against a batsman," said the 26-year-old Lee.
Buchanan's comparisons between Lee and Thomson relate purely to speed. Thomson, a fast bowler of the 70s who worked in conjunction with Dennis Lillee, was regarded as the fast bowler in cricket until Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar broke the 100 mph barrier here. Lee reached speeds of almost 100 mph during Australia's semifinal win over 1996 winners Sri Lanka, uprooting opener Marvan Atapattu's off stump was the catalyst to another fiery new ball spell. In the previous match against Kenya, he took a hat trick _ the first by an Australians at a World Cup _ to reduce the Africans to a precarious three for three.
"It was great to see (Atapattu's) off-stump taken out. It's something I get pretty pumped up about, as you can see after I take a wicket," Lee said of his trademark celebration _ a series of ripping punches to the ground.
"I think we're being a lot more attacking these days. We have got certain plans to certain different types of different batsmen and teams that we have worked on," he said.
"We're trying to work on batsman's weaknesses. It's starting to pay off and it's something that we have in the back of our mind that we have to attack pretty hard in the first 15 overs." After starting the tournament slowly, Lee looks on course to set a World Cup benchmark if he continues to bowl like he has in the last three games. Sri Lankan Chaminda Vaas exited the tournament with 23 wickets, three better than the record Australia's Shane Warne and New Zealander Geoff Allott shared from the '99 World Cup. His trail of destruction is littered with batsmen from New Zealand, Kenya and Sri Lanka as Lee seems to be getting faster with each game. Wanderers _ the quickest pitch in the world next the WACA in Perth _ will only make him bowl faster.
"I Always enjoy bowling here in (Johannesburg). There's a lot more here for fast bowlers, especially with the thinner air," he said. "It's good to get the carry, too. It's the next best thing to bowling at the WACA.
"It's up there with making my debut in test cricket," said Lee, looking ahead to his first World Cup final.
"Playing in a World Cup fires me up and fires the team up. Come Sunday there might be a few butterflies for the team ... hopefully positive butterflies, there's nothing wrong with being a little bit nervous as long as it gets you fired up."
Lee was quick to dismiss suggestions that he bowled viciously to intimidate batsmen.
"I'm not sure about fear. You're playing against the world's best batsmen, and I don't think they fear the fast bowlers. Of course, they might be a little apprehensive at times."