Australian speedster Brett Lee has issued a warning to England ahead of the Ashes series, revealing that Glenn McGrath is bowling as fast as he ever has.[1].jpg)
Lee also said that McGrath's elbow injury - which kept him out of the fourth Ashes Test last year - was very costly in England's 2-1 series triumph in 2005.
"He's been training very hard, which is encouraging," Lee said of McGrath, who also missed the second Test last year with an ankle injury sustained when he trod on a ball.
"He has had a great break to get his body right and I'm sure that Glenn's chomping at the bit to get out there and play Test cricket again."
"He's saying he's bowling the quickest he's ever bowled. It just goes to prove what type of person Glenn is and what type of bowler he is."
"We did miss him when he was (out) over there. No disrespect to the other players that came in, they did more than what they were asked to do."
"In saying that, Glenn has got that knowledge, he's been our best fast bowler for some time now, and the stats prove it as well."
McGrath is Australia's most experienced fast bowler and has been especially successful against England, taking 136 wickets at 20.47 in his career.
Lee also admitted there were certain aspects of Australia's bowling that failed in England, and with former England fast-bowling guru Troy Cooley on board this time around, the New South Welshman is confident that any deficiencies have been ironed out.
"Over the past 12 months we've been working on a few different tactics and techniques that we probably were lacking a little bit over in England, there's no secret with that," he said.
"We've got a lot of cricket to play first, but our mind is definitely set on the Ashes coming up."
