Though the original idea was that the MRF Foundation would be used to develop a pace battery for India, it has in time expanded to include wannabe Lillees from various other countries. And Lillee works them to the bone - when I landed at the foundation nets, the Aussie pace ace was yelling at some Indian trainees who, in his opinion, weren't really bending their backs.

Lillee, never one to mince words, got the Indian hopefuls together and harangued them. Be more like the overseas boys, he said at the top of his voice. Look at the Lankans, the South Africans, they really work hard, they really bend their backs and that is why they are improving. You don't work, so you won't improve...

I stood by and watched, as Lillee (extreme left, with former India paceman T A Shekhar and some of his wards) - who had fixed 4.30 pm as the time for my appointment - kept monitoring his wards till way beyond 6 pm, when fading light forced him to call a halt to the day's practise session.

He then hunkered down on a nearby bench, and proceeded to field my questions... Excerpts follow:

The Indian team now touring England is doing rather badly what do you suppose could be the reason?

Well, there are always many reasons for something like this. For one thing, when you tour overseas it is difficult to do as well as you can at home because, often, you are uncomfortable in another country. Then the playing conditions, the nature of wickets, all these things vary - and these are factors that go against any touring side. The touring team that does well is the side that adapts fastest to the conditions - and it appears to me that the Indians haven't adapted well at all, not as quickly as they should have. Again, they seem to have some internal problems - I don't really know...

Both Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad have trained under you. Are you happy that they are now doing well in England?

No doubt at all. Srinath and Prasad are good role models for the youngsters in this country, the ones who would like to play for India in future. They have been bowling well, and in a sense they serve as an advertisement for this academy, people can see that it actually works, that someone from here can do well for the country.

Is there scope for Srinath and Prasad to improve further?

Why just them, there is scope for anybody to improve. Throughout my career, I was always trying to become better, I always felt that I had the scope to improve further - right up to the last ball I bowled. Most cricketers you talk to will say there is room for improvement - even a Sachin Tendulkar, a Brian Lara, they are all trying to improve, all the time. To come to specifics, it is difficult to say precisely where Srinath and Prasad can improve. Some say they bowl too much, too long spells. Frankly, I haven't seen them lately because we don't get to see your cricket coverage in Australia, so I would rather not make any specific comments. Generally speaking, improvement comes in three ways: physical, technical, and mental. And there is al- ways scope to improve in all three ways.

I noticed just now that you were comparing the attitudes towards work of your trainees from different countries... could you elaborate?

See, MRF decided to throw this academy open to all, so that budding pace bowlers from all over the world could get a chance to use my expertise. The general response from other countries, from the youngsters coming from oversease, has been good, very good. They see it as an opportunity, and tend to grab it with both hands. They work hard, they are good role models to the young Indian lads - I think they inspire the Indian boys with their own work ethic.

Who would you say are more hard-working, the Indian boys or the others?

This is my personal opinion, okay? I think the overseas boys certainly work harder than the Indian boys, though of late the Indian youngsters are also improving, some of them have learnt to work hard. Overall, though, it seems to me that the overseas boys have a better attitude towards hard work and are more dedicated than the majority of the Indian lads. Individually, there are some Indian boys who work as hard as the foreigners, but as a group, Indians don't show that much application.

What is the optimum age for beginning to train as a fast bowler?

That varies, there is no hard and fast rule. I believe they shouldn't start too soon, they should not train too hard too soon. Around 17 or 18 is the ideal time to start work, but they shouldn't be bowling flat out till they enter the early twenties - and even then, they should be careful not to overbowl. Today, there is a tendency to overbowl the young lads beacause they are fit and strong and enthusiastic. But that can be the very worst thing for them, as they are growing and at that stage, are likely to be prone to lasting physical damage.

India has always won its greatest victories with spin. In that context, how important are fast bowlers to a team?

Very important. There has to be someone to use the newball, and not waste it. Sure, a terrific spinner is good, but no team can hope for lasting success without a quality fast bowler or two in its ranks.

You have in the past criticised Indian wickets, and said that they were a main drawback in producing fast bowlers...?

Yes, I have always felt that one way Indian cricket will improve is when the pitches here become closer in standard to the pitches abroad. Here the tracks are flat, but when your players go abroad they play on wickets that not only encourage strokeplay, but also offer something for both the fast bowler and the spinner. And inevitably, India struggles. It would be easier if you had similar pitches here.

Do you think the emergence, the stardom, of spinners like Shane Warne, Anil Kumble and Mushtaq Ahmed will take the spotlight away from the pace bowler?

Well, I don't know. Sure, there are superstar spinners today, but you still hear about the match-winning fast bowlers - Akram, Younis, Ambrose, the others.

What is the reason, according to you, that the fast bowler fascinates the spectator?

Maybe because the fast bowler is exciting to watch. The hair at the back of your neck sort of prickles when a good fast bowler is running in to bowl - it is elemental, and that is perhaps why it is fascinating.

Of late, obituaries are being written on Test cricket. Even at Lord's, the spectators were more interested in watching the Euro Soccer matches on the giant screen, than in watching the cricket out in the middle...

Sure, Test cricket today has competition from sports like soccer, tennis, basketball, whatever, but I don't think Test cricket will die, I believe it will survive.

But it isn't just other sports competing for attention, even in cricket, the one-day variety draws crowds today but the five day variety seems doomed to die?

I don't think I agree, I think Test cricket is also very po- pular round the world. Young people, the ones who get bored fast, do tend to watch more of one day cricket, but the real test of a player's and a team's ability remains the five day game.

True, the five day game is the true Test - but if nobody watches it, will it survive?

Well, sure, it might die, who knows? Though I really don't think it will happen anytime soon.

Which form of cricket gives you the biggest high?

Test cricket, but of course. No question about it. It is the true test of a cricketer's skill, that is what it is all about.

Okay, its been some time since the World Cup but this question is still being hotly debated. So - was Australia justified in refusing to play its World Cup match in Sri Lanka?

Oh, well, if I was a cricketer, I wouldn't like the thought of my head blown off, would you? I'd answer your question by saying, you know it was dangerous to go there.

But Indian and Pakistani players went and played in Colombo and proved there was no danger. So was Australia merely scared of playing against Lanka after the controversies of Lanka's tour Down Under just prior to that?

(Chuckles) Why would Australia want to miss out on the points they could have got for a win? Look, I think it is upto the country, any country, to sort out its own problems and not put the problems on the visitors. Don't you agree?

Fair enough, but some countries did go and play cricket there...

Okay. But that does not mean that everyone has to go there. Just because I put my head in the fire, does that mean you have to? That's the analogy I'll use. You don't have to do whatever someone else is doing. Australian cricketers and the Australian cricket board felt it was unsafe to go there. It was their decision, and I stand by it. In my opinion, if I were the cricketer in the same situation, I would have refused to go.

I believe Australia is now agreeing to play one day games there...

Okay, maybe the board and the players have decided that it is now safe to go there, so they agreed to play. In January, do you remember how many people were killed in the bomb blast in Sri Lanka? What if your son, your brother or your husband were asked to play there, would you have been happy? No? Then judge Australia also by the same yardstick. There, too, there were mothers, sisters, wives protesting that they did not want their loved ones to go to Sri Lanka at the time. Look, if it was my son, I would not have wanted him to go, okay?

Pix: Sanjay Ghosh; Pic of Srinath by Pradeep Mandhani