Lee and Co learning from Indian bowlers

NEW DELHI: Admitting that their attack lacked sharpness, Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee has disclosed that his teammates observed the hosts' bowling at Ferozshah Kotla to succeed on Indian pitches.
    
Lee said their techniques in the first two matches did not work so they tried some new things in the third Test at Kotla to strike some luck in the fourth and final match beginning in Nagpur later this week.
    
"We'll try and experiment with new things. What we've done in the first two Tests probably hasn't worked. If you're being critical about not taking wickets, we haven't achieved that goal," Lee said.
    
"In the last Test we tried new things and watched what India did. Sometimes they bowled short stuff, then put the ball up and tried to get the nick or lbw," he was quoted as saying by the 'cricinfo'.
    
The statistics in the first three Test of the four-match series speaks volume about their bowling apathy with Lee and Co taking just 14 wickets in Bangalore, 13 in Mohali and 12 in just-concluded Delhi Test.
    
However, Lee said he and his colleagues were capable of taking 20 wickets.
    
"The bowling squad we've got now is great. We'd like to keep that going past the Ashes, or even further on. You've got to trust the guys around you and trust that we are, as a bowling group, not far away from taking those 20 wickets. It's hard work in India," he said.

So far left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson is the only Aussie bowler who has shown some promise in the low and slow Indian pitches. He has been the leading wicket-taker for the tourists with 12 at 34.58, whereas Lee (seven wickets at 57.71), Stuart Clark (two at 80.5) and spinners Cameron White (five at 60.6) and Michael Clarke (two at 113.5) have all battled to make an impression on the famed Indian batting line-up.
    
Lee, who played his first Test on the Indian soil in the on-going series, said he was still learning and adjusting to the sub-continent conditions.
    
"I was lucky the last couple of seasons to have success, and then when you look up at the scoreboard and you haven't got many wickets in the first couple of matches, it's easy to think is it my action? Is it because the ball isn't swinging? Is it because I'm not fit enough? But you've just got to trust your own ability," he said.
    
Lee also backed his pace colleagues and specifically praised Johnson for his exploits in the series.
    
"He's (Johnson) bowled well, whether it's because he's a left-hander and gets the ball to angle across or not. Everyone has patches where they take a bagful. Everyone has been backing Mitch up and he's really carried the side and done a great job.
    
"It's very tough to sit there and judge and say Stuey hasn't taken many wickets - he's a world class bowler. We'd have Stuey Clark in the side at any stage."