Lee puts India-Australia series at par with Ashes

Australian paceman Brett Lee has put the forthcoming four-Test home series against India at par with an Ashes contest.

The series starts on December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Lee has fond memories of facing the Indians at the famous venue where he took 5-47 on debut against Sachin Tendulkar's side eight years ago.

"Time has flown by so quickly and there are some absolutely great memories playing at the MCG, on a team basis and an individual basis," Lee said.

"We have always said that playing against England in the Ashes is where it's at, but I also think now playing against India is one of our greatest challenges as far as Test match cricket goes."

India and Australia have battled in some of the greatest Test matches in the last decade or so – the Kolkata Test 2001, the Mumbai Test 2004 and of course the legendary Sydney Test 2003, the match which marked the end of Steve Waugh’s career, the most triumphant captain in the contemporary era.

Despite the close encounters between the two teams, India has never managed to win a Test series on Australian soil. The 2007 series will also mark 70 years of Test cricket between the two nations. Australia hosted the inaugural series in 1947-48 and won it by a 4-0 margin.

Lee hopes for more assistance from his fellow bowlers this summer as the home attack badly missed the injured Glenn McGrath and suspended Shane Warne when the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was last contested in Australia in 2003-4, with the series finishing 1-1.
But the fast bowler has come a long way since and proved himself a worthy leader of the attack in the recent series win over Sri Lanka, when he took 16 wickets and was named the player of the series.

"I'm really happy with the way that I'm playing and I'm happy with the way the team's going," he said.