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Legend Lee offers keys to UAE success

Patience and a stump-to-stump line among the insights offered by former Aussie speedster to current fast-bowling contingent

Former speedster Brett Lee has two simple pieces of advice for Australia in their upcoming Test series against Pakistan: bowl at the stumps and keep your cool.

Asked by new captain Tim Paine to pass along some wisdom to the fresh-faced group, Lee, who's in Dubai on commentary duties for the Asia Cup, cut an amiable figure as Australia trained in blazing heat two days out from their tour match against Pakistan A.

The 76-Test quick talked at length with the squad's pace quartet during their net session, before former teammate and current Australia coach Justin Langer left him with an open invitation to join in again in the future.

"It was really special, (Langer was) just saying you're part of the family, part of the Baggy Green boys, wearing the fabric," Lee told cricket.com.au.

"(Langer said) you don't have to ring up, just come in the dressing room, come down, have a chat to the boys, come out for a beer with the lads after winning. It was really, really special.

"It'd be crazy for me not to take that opportunity. I know when I was playing, I would have loved to have seen the greats of the game come in (to pass on knowledge).

"If someone can pass on something that the coaching staff haven’t picked up … and someone learns from it, then Australian cricket is much better off."

Lee casts an eye over Aussie squad in Dubai

Lee is better qualified than most to pass on tips for dealing with the kind of extreme conditions this part of the world can dish up. Australia’s 2002 series against Pakistan that saw two matches hosted in nearby Sharjah remains the last time Australia have defeated Pakistan in a Test series on foreign soil.

So sapping was the heat during the second Test of that campaign, with temperatures approaching 50 degrees Celsius and the humidity hovering at 90 per cent, that sweat pooled on the bowling crease, having poured out of the hole Lee had cut in his left shoe to ease the stress on his front toe.

"The time I played over here, it was just keeping things really simple," Lee told cricket.com.au.

"If you're bowling a fifth stump line and the ball is not swinging and you're trying to get a snick behind or a guy caught in gully, you've got one chance of getting a guy out unless he chops on.

"If you can (bowl) stump-to-stump, you bring every form of dismissal into play.

"It's about keeping things simple, not losing your temper. The easy thing over here is when things are hot and the conditions are tough, you can get frustrated really easily.

"It's about appreciating the country you're in and the level of cricket you're playing but also the wicket you're playing on. It's not like Australia."

Paine on captaincy, tactics and possible debutants

Members of Australia's current Test squad have made it clear the scorching desert heat cannot be an excuse for failure and Lee was impressed by the team's energy on Thursday.

One of the quickest bowlers to ever pull on the Baggy Green, the 41-year-old insisted speed, although important, is not the be-all and end-all on the subcontinent.

He urged Australia's crop of quicks to find a way to be a threat in the period between the ball being new and later on when it reverse swings.

"Speed and pace are of huge importance, especially over here, but the most important thing is probably your line and certainly your length," he said.

"When the ball stops swinging, (when) it's between going reverse at the end and … brand-new, it's that middle period which is tough.

"That's the period where you've got to bowl stump-to-stump. It's going to be hard work, hard on the bowlers.

"But if they can have a few simple things up their sleeves … they'll be in pretty good stead."

Qantas Tour of the UAE

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc

Pakistan Test squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, Bilal Asif, Mohammad Abbas, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan

Sep 29 - Oct 2: Tour match v Pak A, Dubai

Oct 7-11: First Test, Dubai

Oct 16-20: Second Test, Abu Dhabi


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