Australia's veteran paceman Brett Lee has charged head-first into a rich vein of wicket-taking form ahead of our upcoming series against South Africa, and Ricky Ponting knows it's just in the knick of time.
The Proteas' emerging pace duo of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel have formed a formidable bowling attack over the past season - a pace attack which has been touted by some as the best since the West Indies team of the late 80's.
Steyn, 25, has exploded onto the Test scene, taking 60 wickets in this calendar year at a remarkably low 19.41.
Morkel, the six-foot-six new kid on the block, has bagged 37 wickets at 30.43.
Lee's five wicket haul against the Black Caps pushed his Test wicket count up to 56 for the year - but at the cost of 29.29.
That, coupled with a bouncy WACA wicket, is likely to spark an epic battle of the speedsters when the first Test begins in Perth on December 17.
"We know that the South Africans are a well-balanced side and have a really good fast bowling attack," Ricky Ponting told News Ltd.
"It is going to be a great spectacle."
Lee, meanwhile, is keen to lock horns with the Steyn Express.
"I think he's got great pace," Lee said.
"And Morkel is six-foot-six and I think he will be pretty challenging at the WACA. It promises to be a nice bouncy wicket."
And as for his own return to form following a wicket-drought and bout of food poisoning in India?
"I lost a lot of strength. It only feels now over the last couple of weeks that the strength has come back," Lee said. "The results show that as far as pace (he approached 150km/h in Adelaide) and wickets. I have been improving every match.
"The next couple of weeks is going to do me a lot of good I think, being back in the gym and having a great strength program and putting back on the kilos that I have lost.
"I am really proud of taking nine wickets but there is a lot more in the tank and there is a lot more to go."
