Shoaib and Lee stray off the pace

Stephen Fay sees the world's two fastest bowlers have a match to forget

The South Wales police put plainclothes men among the capacity crowd at Sophia Gardens yesterday to watch the crowd, but what they really should have had under observation was the two fastest bowlers in the world taking a terrible beating from some of the world's best batsmen.

It was enthralling. Brett Lee (fastest delivery 97.75mph) appeared for the first time in this country. Shoaib Akhtar was officially timed at 97.7mph yesterday, his fastest-ever delivery (if accurate), and what we learned was that speed is not enough. The faster they bowl, the faster the ball comes off the bat. Both were glanced, stroked, driven and edged to the boundary with a regularity they must have found monotonous.

Shoaib was much the faster of the two yesterday and the delivery that dismissed Adam Gilchrist was thrilling. The ball was on a good length and beat Gilchrist for pace, though we do not know how fast it was exactly because the speed gun failed. But the ball that did for Gilchrist looked even faster than the fastest timed delivery. The only qualification is that television replays suggested that this was another wicket taken with a no ball. This time, umpire Alan Whitehead was the guilty party. Perhaps the plainclothes men took a note.

Shoaib bowled five overs in his first spell and after each delivery our eyes switched to the speed gun display. In his third over he was timed at 93.3mph, 93.5mph and 94.6mph. The problem was that Mark Waugh, who looked remarkably composed under the barrage, was able to run five. Another three meant eight off that over, and that was par for his spell. His five overs cost 41 runs for that one wicket. The dispiriting experience was ended when he retired to the pavilion with a recurrence of gastro-enteritis.

The comparison with Brett Lee is inevitable, irresistible and unfair. Lee was a surprise choice yesterday. He broke his elbow in February and new bone was screwed into the joint to mend the break. He has not bowled since, and he arrived in England last Monday declaring that he might be fit, but was certainly not match fit. Yet he tore in at the nets, and when three of Australia's fast bowlers were found to be carrying injuries yesterday, Lee was pressed into action in an international game rather than the more gentle stroll with Nottinghamshire's second XI that had been arranged for him. But Jason Gillespie (hamstring strain), Nathan Bracken (shoulder strain) and Damien Fleming (calf strain) might all have been fitter than Lee proved to be.

He is a neat-looking figure with heavily streaked blond hair, and he was clearly intent on finding his line and length again. Compared to Shoaib's explosive performance, Lee was stately. He first few balls hovered around the 80mph mark and the pace rarely rose to 85mph. His pleasure at Mark Waugh's splendid catch that dismissed Shahid Afridi was extravagant. The score was only 14 and it was a promising re-entry to international cricket. From then on it was downhill all the way. His errant line was vigorously punished, and by the time he was asked to bowl his final overs he had become easy pickings. The last one went for 17, including a fine straight six by Rashid Latif. His final figures were memorably bad: 10-1-85-1.

Lee is still at an early stage of the learning curve. On the basis of this performance, England have little to fear next month at Edgbaston. But that it a dangerous assumption. Only three weeks ago at Lord's, Shaoib looked short of pace and accuracy. The speed at which he bowled yesterday suggested that he might have been more threatening at Old Trafford. It would be idle to think that the same might not be true of Brett Lee by the time he plays his first Test at Lord's on 19 July.

The people who looked most threatening yesterday were Ricky Ponting and Yousuf Youhana. The crowd was noisy, but did not put the plainclothes men to work. Their raucous horns are made by S & S Supplies of London N18 ­ a firm which has already made a contribution to the English summer.

NatWest Series

Thur 7 June: Pakistan bt England by 108 runs, Edgbaston*

Yesterday: Australia bt Pakitstan by 7 wkts, Cardiff

Today: England v Australia, Bristol

Tue, 12 June: England v Pakistan, Lord's

Thur, 14 June: England v Australia, Old Trafford*

Sat, 16 June: Pakistan v Australia, Durham

Sun, June 17: England v Pakistan, Headingley

Tue, 19 June: Pakistan v Australia, Trent Bridge*

Thur, 21 June: England v Australia, The Oval

Sat, 23 June: Final, Lord's

*denotes day/night match