Australian pace bowler Brett Lee will give the England team a taste of its own medicine in the approaching Ashes series by employing reverse-swing as a major weapon in his arsenal.
Lee and pace partners Nathan Bracken and Mitchell Johnson sought tutelage from renowned reverse-swing practitioner Wasim Akram during the Bangladesh tour, and the former Pakistan great was happy to oblige in revealing the secrets behind the dangerous bowling art.
"It was about action, about seam, a lot of talk about reverse swing," Akram told AAP.
"Brett Lee is a sight to watch in world cricket. Any bowler comes to me from any nationality, I am there to help.
"These guys want to improve, so they want to ask the top cricketers [for advice] and that's good.
"I did tell them the little details about reverse swing. I think soon in the Ashes we will be seeing Brett Lee bowling reverse swing."
The English team used reverse-swing with amazing effect during last year's Ashes, as Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff in particular caused all sorts of problems for the Australian batsmen.
Lee believes that if he can develop a consistency with his own reverse-swing bowling, it will make him an even harder bowler to face.
"We spoke about a number of things from conventional swing to reverse swing and different lines and lengths," Lee said of his conversation with Akram.
"He gave us a few pointers and ways to try and get the ball to swing a bit more as the Australian cricket team haven't really mastered the art of it yet.
"England did it very well last year when we played against them in the Ashes.
"They got the ball swinging a lot. They had a lot of our batsmen caught at the crease, either being bowled or lbw."
Lee will also rely on the knowledge and expertise of former English bowling coach Troy Cooley - who will be with the Australian team for the 2006 Ashes - in honing his reverse-swing action.
Cooley was credited with teaching the English attack how to use reverse swing.
