September 05, 2008	Friday	Ramazan 04, 1429

DARWIN (Australia), Sept 4: Sidelined Australian paceman Brett Lee has declared himself available for the upcoming Test tour of India.

Lee withdrew from the current one-day series against Bangladesh following the collapse of his marriage, but caught up with his Australian team-mates here on Thursday for a light training session and said he was ready to play again.

The Australians are expected to name their squad for India next week and depart on Sept 21, with the first of their four Tests starting on Oct 9.

The 31-year-old admitted he considered skipping the tour, but said he was refreshed and looking forward “to the tough Indian tour.”

“India is a great place to tour; the culture, the food, the people, and the atmosphere [and] the crowds over there are just brilliant.

“Even though they may be cheering for the Indians, they’ve still got a love for Australians,” he said. “It’s a tough place to play cricket, but also very enjoyable.”

Lee said it was only this week that he decided to make himself available for India, where he is a huge star but is yet to play Test cricket.

“It’s only been the last couple of days,” Lee said of his decision.

“It’s been one of those things where it was just going to be a time thing, so if it didn’t work out and I didn’t think I was fit enough or I wasn’t ready to go, more so mentally ... but I’m feeling great on both fronts and I’m actually looking forward to it.”

Lee didn’t discuss his marriage, but conceded he was pleased to get out of Sydney.

“I thought it would be a wise move to get out of Sydney and just come up here and spend some time in Darwin and see how the lads are going and get back into the feel of things again,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks.”—AFP