Lee relishes bowling at lively Sydney track

Sydney, Dec 31 (UNI) Relishing the prospect of bowling on the lively pitches, pace bowling spearhead Brett Lee today sounded warning bells to the Indian batting line-up ahead of the second Test saying ''the SCG wicket will suit fast bowling a lot more''.

''Sydney is going to have a bit more (life) in it, especially for the quicks,'' Lee said.

''And then we've got Perth . . . who knows what might happen over there.

''We were bowling on a pretty benign wicket in Melbourne, very low and slow and that doesn't really suit the quicks. But I thought we did a great job in Melbourne on that wicket.

''The ball ended up looking like a dog had a good go at it. Up here (in Sydney) should suit fast bowling a lot more,'' he was quoted as saying by the local media.

After executing a stifling bowling plan to near perfection, Lee said there was plenty of confidence the Australian quicks and spinners could replicate the performance in the second Test which starts on Wednesday.

''We have to stay really focused and keep going through and executing the plans we have been focusing on,'' Lee said.

The 31-year-old Lee said patience had been the key to Australia's 2-0 recent success against Sri Lanka and it had carried over into the series against India.

''The way we applied it, the way we bowled in partnerships, changing the tempo but concentrating on being patient, it worked well,'' Lee said.

''So after that series we looked how we could apply it to the Indian batsmen.

''We had thorough plans, and we executed those plans as a bowling unit very, very well.'' The wicket of Tendulkar in the second innings was a defining moment in Lee's new career path, which interestingly started off against the same team in 1999 at the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne.

''You work on a plan. Try to get in some short stuff and then throw one out wide, and he bit at it. Yeah, that was very pleasing,'' Lee said.

''I am hard on myself and don't like to talk myself up, but I think over the past couple of months collectively is the best I've bowled for my country.

''It's the result of hard work and a little bit of heartache.'' Despite their dominance in Melbourne, the focus will be on Australia's bowlers at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

In their previous clash in Sydney, India piled on a record first innings score of 7-705 as Sachin Tendulkar (241 not out) VVS Laxman (178) belted the Aussie bowlers.

Incidentally, that was also Steve Waugh's final Test. It ended in a draw and with that the four-match Test series finished at 1-1.

UNI