Lee's the Best: Ponting

[kodos]

IMO if Bond never suffered those long term injuries he could of easily been as potent and threatening as Lee. Bond also has troubled Aus alot in basically all of the matches between the 2 nations. All Lee gotta do now is to remain consistent when he tours overseas to SA and Pak.

 

[Brett_Lee]

Hes also gotten alot better with his batting to. I mean hes made two of his personal bests this series thats pretty good. Best bowling best batting!

 

[irottev]

Its just something we will never know. I can't wait to see Bond bowl in a test, Zimbabwe didn't count, that was dreadful.

Lee is one of my favorite aussie players. His batting has improved out of sight. Its good to see him getting results.

 

[aussie1st]

He can't bowl at the death, he has shown that. He was used right by Ponting against SA and bowled out before the final overs.

I agree, if Ponting keeps using him like this he should remain the best in the world. McGrath lately has been very quiet but still keeping it tight and taking the odd wicket or 2.

 

[Brett_Lee]

I agree, if Ponting keeps using him like this he should remain the best in the world. McGrath lately has been very quiet but still keeping it tight and taking the odd wicket or 2.

Yeh i agree but i have to say mcgrath has been out of form taking wickets

 

[irottev]

He takes the odd one. Hes been bowling fantastic too, he just doesn't get as much luck. Batsmen also go into mega watchful mode against him. He only goes for 30odd runs per over usually so hes extremly cheap and builds pressure for the other end.

McGrath is NOT out of form. If hes goes for 5's or 6's per over, THEN he will be out of form. Today was an example, I wonder what ther average totals are with McGrath in the team.

 

[aussie1st]

Well today he didn't play and they conceded 300. Good dam Aus will be dead if he is injuried during the WC. Lee is the best in the world with McGrath around but once he goes so to does Lee being the best in the world. This isn't Lee's fault, its more the guy bowling at the other end not backing him up.

 

[m_vaughan]

Currently I'd say Lee is the best. Infact he has shown tremendous improvement since the Ashes tour (including it ofcourse).

And I think this last series has shown that Lee is as important to Australia as McGrath is. And I think Lee will soon become their main bowler. What Lee has is pace, swing and seam....and he is good in all three.

 

[irottev]

Vaas is bowling pretty good lately, he can't be far off being a top fiver.

 

[m_vaughan]

Vaas usually struggled outside Sri Lanka. But he is a quality bowler no doubt.

Top 5 currently imo:
1. Brett Lee (Australia)
2. Glen McGrath (Australia)
3. Makhaya Ntini (South Africa)
4. Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan)
5. Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka)

 

[irottev]

A lot different to the 5 I would name.

 

[aussie1st]

I agree Lee is definitely important as McGrath as without Lee we wouldn't be getting the wickets needed. McGrath can keep an end closed but the wickets aren't flowing like usual. Maybe Tait should be given a go as unlike Johnson he has a proven ING record.

 

[kodos]

I reckon Lee is currently Aus main bowler as McGrath no longer looks threatening to take wickets. He just ties one end down. Where is Pollock in the list m_vaughan??? He is on fantastic form with both bat and ball recently

 

[MWaugh]

I agree, if Ponting keeps using him like this he should remain the best in the world. McGrath lately has been very quiet but still keeping it tight and taking the odd wicket or 2.

the fact that glenn mcgrath has been bowling so tight has allowed brett lee to take the wickets. you could see in england when mcgrath was playing that brett lee could attack from the other end. however when he was on his own with only kasperwicz and gillespie he had to slip into a mcgrath mode which took away alot of his attacking power.

its the same as warne with macgill. warne generally doesnt take as many wickets as macgill when they play together but because he contains the batsman macgill takes wickets from the other end as he is allowed to attack more

 

[James219]

Yea you're right particularly as Warne is so accurate he keeps the pressure mounting and MacGill very often bowls atleast one loose delivery an over, meaning the batsman will pounce at the opportunity and often be drawn into an unneccessary shot.
Similar with Lee and we will see what he's really made of when McGrath goes and he has to balance between two roles and hence really grind for his wickets. And if Tait continues in the frame then he may well be forced into adopting a new mindset because if there's two 'tearaway' quicks with erratic nature, the consistent grouping of pressure will no longer be there.

Also with kodos's statement about Pollock, he has 'recently' been in good form. Before that he's found it very hard to recapture his form and take clusters of wickets, usually resorting to bowling in tight areas to force an error or using his experience in persisting on the batsman; like McGrath at the moment.