Australia's pace kings rise to the challenge

Australia may not have crushed West Indies in the three-Test series that concluded earlier this week, but their performance was still strong enough to indicate that their bowling will be a major force despite the retirements of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. A replacement for Warne's wizardry is obviously not too readily available, but with Brett Lee and Stuart Clark stepping up to the challenge, Australia's fast-bowling department remains formidable.

Of the 54 wickets taken by Australia's bowlers in the three Tests, 31 went to Lee and Clark - that's more than 57%. Clark's nagging accuracy, discipline, and swing and seam were a perfect foil for Lee's extreme pace and swing. Not many would have anticipated a replacement for McGrath so soon after his retirement, but Clark has slotted in perfectly with his in-the-corridor, back-of-a-length stuff. In the three Tests, he went at just 2.28 runs per over - easily the most economical of the fast bowlers - ensuring that Australia had control over proceedings even if Lee and Mitchell Johnson went for a few at the other end.

Comparisons with McGrath have been the norm for Clark over the last year, and stats show the comparisons are justified. Already 32, Clark will obviously not play as many matches as McGrath did, but in his 18-Test career so far, he has already achieved McGrath-esque numbers - the only difference in the averages is the positions of the two digits after the decimal, while the economy-rate and strike-rate are remarkably similar as well.

Lee's ascendancy as Australia's leading strike bowler has been equally remarkable over the last 18 months. The match that turned it around for him was the Boxing Day Test of 2006, which was also McGrath's penultimate game. In 31.5 overs, Lee returned figures of 6 for 83 and hasn't looked back since. In his last 11 Tests including that game, Lee has taken an astonishing 70 wickets at an average of less than 21 and a strike-rate of a wicket every 41 deliveries - both of which are significant improvements over the corresponding numbers earlier in his career.

That Australia's fast bowling remains in good hands is obvious from the table below: both Lee and Clark are among the top six in terms of strike-rates in Tests since 2006. Dale Steyn is way ahead of the pack with a wicket every 33 balls, but Lee and Clark aren't too far behind the rest.

Has Australian fast bowling slipped since McGrath's retirement? These are admittedly early days, and the new attack has to prove itself in different conditions, but on current evidence there is little to suggest the team will struggle as long as Clark and Lee perform their double act. In the seven years from 2000 to early 2007, when McGrath retired, Australia's fast bowlers were better than those from any other country, taking their wickets at just over 27, with South Africa the only other team to average less than 30 per wicket.

Since McGrath's retirement South Africa have taken over as the best fast-bowling unit - thanks to Steyn's incredible form and Makhaya Ntini's excellent support act - but the Australians have hardly slipped, averaging less than 27 per wicket.

McGrath's most effective partner through his 14-year career was Jason Gillespie, who was more than a handful when he was not plagued with injuries. Gillespie finished with 259 wickets from 71 Tests, 58 of which involved McGrath as well. In those games the Australian pace attack took 656 wickets at an average of a shade less than 26. In the 18 Tests that have involved Lee and Clark (five of which also involved McGrath), the fast bowlers have done as well, with a marginally better average and strike-rate.

What hasn't been proved yet, though, is if the pace attack minus McGrath can conquer the subcontinent as well. Based on the stats so far, the queries are justified - in five Tests in the subcontinent so far, Lee has managed just seven wickets at an average of 60, while Clark returned figures of 1 for 77 against Bangladesh at Fatullah in his only Test in the subcontinent. Compare that with McGrath's numbers in Asia - 72 wickets in 19 Tests at an average of 23 - and it's clear that Australia's current crop of fast bowlers still have some questions to answer.