Former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee believes that New Zealand has an edge over India in the World Test Championship final due to the swing conditions in Southampton. Lee said that Kane Williamson-led side is bowling very well even they got just two wickets on Day 2 against England.
“I think it is pretty evenly matched there (in batting). From a batting point of view, both sides have got batsmen that can play against swing bowling,” said Lee in an interview with International Cricket Council (ICC).
“I am thinking though with the experience of New Zealand because they have bowled in conditions which are similar back home, you talk about the ball moving around, you talk about something in the wicket, there will be a bit of something, it may be conducive to fast bowling, to swing bowling. So that is where I think that the Kiwis might have an advantage purely from that fact,” added Lee, who at his peak was one of the two fastest bowlers in world cricket alongside Pakistan’s Shoaib.
The 44-yearsold said that the neutral venue won’t be ‘super fast’ but will have a enough for fast bowlers.
“I think the batsmen will generally be okay on the surface, but if they bowl well, whichever side bowls well, I think they will have the biggest impact,” he said further.
Lee added that the Dukes ball, which swings a lot will also be a big challenge for the batsmen.
“We know that when you go to England when you bowl with the Duke’s ball, the ball does swing around. So guys that have bowled with the Duke’s ball and have some good experience of bowling in swinging conditions like New Zealand, may be better suited to bowling with the Duke’s ball,” said the 44-year-old Lee, who also played 221 One-day International matches and took 380 wickets.
“Because if you do not quite get the ball right, if you do not get the seam position correct, then the ball cannot swing around. And that is where you bowl a lot of wides and extras.”
Lee praised the ICC concept of WTC final saying that it brought an incentive to the longest format of the game and it will also increase the excitement level among the fans.
“There is a big prize of winning a 50-over World Cup or a T20, whichever you want to call it, but there is nothing for a Test match. You might get the number one Test ranking, which is great. But this is an opportunity now to find out, which is going to be the best team currently around the world,” he said.
