Lee prepares to bowl for his place

Brett Lee is ready for a tough contest with his fellow fast men when Australia's Ashes tour begins with their first warm-up game in Hove on Wednesday. Lee will be competing with Peter Siddle, Stuart Clark and Ben Hilfenhaus for the fast-bowling slots alongside Mitchell Johnson for the first Test.

It's a position that Lee hasn't been accustomed to over the past couple of years, when he has often been the first bowler pencilled into the team list. But a lack of form over the Australian summer, combined with a long injury lay-off, means Lee will be extra motivated to perform strongly against Sussex.

"There's a lot of competition - maths at school, you know that 16 doesn't go into 11," Lee said. "To me the true test will be these two trial matches coming up. The guys that play well, certainly from a bowler's point of view, and without putting pressure upon ourselves, we know it's a bit of a shoot-out. But that's healthy and that makes it exciting, too."

For Lee, the desire to put in a strong showing is exacerbated by his experience in the recent World Twenty20, when his eight overs were slogged for 95 in two matches against West Indies and Sri Lanka. "When you have a negative you try to find a positive, and for us, the Twenty20 has gone, and that's given us a two-week period to focus on the red ball and white clothing," he said. "It was definitely tough to get over, but it's done and dusted, and it's a completely different game to Test cricket.

"You can't take anything out of bowling in Twenty20s into Test cricket. Well, I can't personally. You have batsmen that are slogging and playing different shots, and smaller fields, and everyone's trying to hit six every ball. It's not the greatest of things for fast bowlers. But for me it all comes down to feel. I'm feeling good, touch wood, and I've made sure I give myself the opportunity."

Since the retirement of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, Lee is by far and away the most experienced bowler in the Australian squad, but he knows that his past performances count for nothing if he is not up to scratch in the coming weeks. "If I'm not doing the business on the cricket field, I don't expect to get chosen," he said. "You've taken 300 Test wickets, well, whoopee whoop. If I'm not taking wickets and not happy with how the ball's coming out, I'm not expecting to get chosen.

"I've been lucky with people praising me for being in the 300 club, but for me I'm most pleased to have played for Australia for ten years. Obviously there have been ups and downs, and that's part of being a sportsperson. I'm 32 now, but so what, I'm the fittest I've ever been and the strongest I've ever been. And I'll be out there playing my hardest and doing the best I can."

Following the four-day match the Australians will take on the England Lions in Worcester and juggling their attack looms as a key in the lead-up to the Cardiff Test. In addition to the pace battle they must decide whether to squeeze in the offspinner Nathan Hauritz and what, if any, role will be filled by the allrounders Shane Watson and Andrew McDonald.

"I don't think we can lock anyone in just yet," the captain Ricky Ponting said. "There will be certain things that I'll ask of every player to be able to do by the end of this game and hopefully they can do that and adapt and adjust to the conditions.

"We've got two games. It's not as if it's going to be an out-and-out bowl off or an out-and-out bat off between any players. I just want to see what everyone's got in these conditions and what they can deliver for the team."

Australia can field 12 players for the Sussex game, which is not a first-class fixture, and that gives them extra flexibility to assess their 16-man squad. Ponting said Hauritz was expected to play in the first warm-up game, where the surface is likely to assist the spinners.

"There will be a good opportunity there for us as batsmen to get used to the pace and the bounce and maybe a bit of spin," Ponting said. "It will be a good opportunity for our bowlers to experience those conditions and work out the lines and lengths they need to bowl. It will be a good chance for Hauritz to get some good exposure in these sorts of conditions."