Kasprowicz offers clear thinking on Twenty20

Michael Kasprowicz may be competing with Brett Lee for the third bowling place on Australia's tour of New Zealand, but he given his rival some advice before tomorrow's first Twenty20 international at Auckland. Boasting experience of the bite-sized game for Glamorgan, Kasprowicz told the bowlers to "leave your ego in the dressing-room".

"But don't think that the game is all about pressure being on bowlers, because the batters feel the pressure of hitting boundaries," he told the Courier-Mail. "One of the only real differences is the first few overs, before the fielding restrictions are lifted, because the batters are really trying to get at you because they have plenty of wickets in hand."

Kasprowicz, who was edged out of the VB Series finals side by Lee, said that players in England quickly developed their skills and transferred them to the 50-over game. "You could see batsmen trying to develop new shots and bowlers being forced to think differently," he said. "You have to leave your ego in the dressing-room but you can definitely adapt quickly as a bowler."

Lee modelled Australia's retro uniform yesterday and should get his first taste of Twenty20 tomorrow. But he is also looking towards his 100th one-day international in the opening match of the series at Wellington on Saturday. If Lee plays he will become the second-highest wicket-taker after 100 matches behind Saqlain Mushtaq and ahead of Allan Donald, Lee's childhood hero. Lee currently has 176 wickets, 12 fewer than Mustaq's at the same stage and seven more than Donald.

"It feels fantastic to hear those figures," Lee said in the Sydney Morning Herald. "When I was 12, watching cricket on TV, I wouldn't have thought 100 games would happen, but it looks like it will now. I'm proud of that, and I'm proud of my numbers, and I hope it'll keep on happening."

Lee said that he was in the form of his life and felt he had matured in the past 12 months by learning about bowling in different situations. Allan Border, the Australia selector, said Lee had worked out the balance between trying to blast out batsmen and not going for lots of runs. "Brett's really developed and that comes with maturity and understanding your own game," he said.