Pace is Key For Australia,Bret lee,Shaun Tait Will Help Australia in World Cup 2011

Australia’s chances of winning a fourth straight Cricket World Cup title will hinge on its fast bowlers, according to captain Ricky Ponting.

Top-ranked Australia flies out today for the six-week tournament in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, where conditions traditionally suit slower bowlers. Rather than rely on spinners, the Australians plan to use Shaun Tait and Brett Lee to make inroads into opposing batting lineups.

“The one thing we’ve learnt the hard way on the subcontinent, particularly with India and Sri Lanka, is that they play spin so well and so often it is counter-productive using too much spin against their batsmen,” Ponting wrote in his column in today’s Australian newspaper. “We’ll be unleashing Lee and Tait at 150 kilometers-an-hour (93mph) to unsettle their batsmen.”

Tait, 27, was the joint second-highest wicket-taker at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean with 23, while Lee had 22 dismissals at the 2003 tournament in southern Africa before missing the next edition because of an ankle injury.

“We plan to use Shaun the same way in this tournament as we did four years ago, giving him a couple of overs up front to see if he can grab early wickets then use him in short bursts during the innings when the ball starts to reverse,” Ponting added.

The 34-year-old Lee, who quit elite five-day Tests a year ago to focus on the game’s shorter formats, took a series-high 11 wickets as Australia routed England 6-1 in their one-day contest that finished three days ago.

‘Fantastic Shape’

Lee “has got himself in fantastic shape after some tough battles regaining his fitness,” added Ponting.

Mitchell Johnson and Doug Bollinger are the other specialist fast bowlers in Australia’s 15-man squad, with allrounders Shane Watson and John Hastings providing further pace options.

Australia’s last loss at cricket’s four-yearly championship came against Pakistan at the 1999 tournament in England. It’s won 28 and tied one of its 29 games since.

Ponting’s squad plays tune-up games against India on Feb. 13 and South Africa two days later before starting its title defense Feb. 21 against Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad.

Key Player: Shaun Tait Can bowl At 150 km\h Speed

The 14 teams are split into two groups of seven for the opening round-robin stage, with the top four from each advancing to the quarterfinals. The final is scheduled for April 2 in Mumbai.