Brett Lee asks James Pattinson to retain aggression
Impressed with young pace sensation James Pattinson's performance in the opening cricket Test against India, Australian fast bowler Brett Lee has urged him to retain his aggression.
"I think it's controlled aggression and as a fast bowler you have to be in the batsman's face," Lee said of the 21-year-old who was the man of the match in Australia's 122-run win over India in the first Test at the MCG.
"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...it's great," Lee was quoted as saying by 'The Sydney Morning Herald'.
Pattinson claimed 20 wickets in his first three Tests, a feat similar to Lee, who took 42 victims in his first seven Tests after bursting onto the scene more than a decade ago.
Bowling at 150km/h consistently, Pattinson has quickly emerged as the potential bowler who can spearhead a rejuvenated Australian pace attack that is preparing to tear into India's line-up in the second Test at the SCG from Tuesday.
The youngest member of the present Australian team also didn't shy away from using glares and growls at opposition batsmen and was able to make breakthroughs at crucial times but Lee said he would have to choose his moments to agitate batsmen in the future.
"I think when you're bowling at different batsmen around the world you act differently," Lee said.
"Some blokes you can get right in their faces, some blokes you've got to pull back, because they actually enjoy that. 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," Lee added.
Lee felt Australia have a good bench strength of fast bowlers and praised skipper Michael Clarke for using them efficiently.
"Australia have got some pretty amazing bowling stocks at the moment. The guys have done well collectively as a team," Lee said.
"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 and to give them short little bursts. He's done that beautifully.
"Ryan Harris is a class act, and you've got guys like Pat Cummins and Mitchell Johnson to come back from injury. Unfortunately six or seven bowlers don't go into three spots," he added.
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