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| Personal information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 8 November 1976 Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia |
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| Nickname | Bing, Binga, the Speedster | |||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | |||
| Batting style | Right-handed | |||
| Bowling style | Right-arm fast | |||
| Role | Bowler | |||
| Relations | S Lee (brother),Grant Lee | |||
| International information | ||||
| National side | Australia | |||
| Test debut (cap 383) | 26 December 1999 v India | |||
| Last Test | 26 December 2008 v South Africa | |||
| ODI debut (cap 140) | 9 January 2000 v Pakistan | |||
| Last ODI | 7 July 2012 v England | |||
| ODI shirt no. | 58 | |||
| Domestic team information | ||||
| Years | Team | |||
| 1995 – | New South Wales | |||
| 2011- | Kolkata knight riders | |||
| 2011 | Wellington | |||
| 2011– | Sydney Sixers | |||
| Career statistics | ||||
| Competition | Test | ODI | FC | LA |
| Matches | 76 | 221 | 116 | 262 |
| Runs scored | 1,451 | 1,176 | 2,120 | 1,365 |
| Batting average | 20.15 | 17.81 | 18.59 | 17.06 |
| 100s/50s | 0/5 | 0/3 | 0/8 | 0/3 |
| Top score | 64 | 59 | 97 | 59 |
| Balls bowled | 16,531 | 11,185 | 24,193 | 13,475 |
| Wickets | 310 | 380 | 487 | 438 |
| Bowling average | 30.81 | 23.36 | 28.22 | 24.05 |
| 5 wickets in innings | 10 | 9 | 20 | 10 |
| 10 wickets in match | 0 | n/a | 2 | n/a |
| Best bowling | 5/30 | 5/22 | 7/114 | 5/22 |
| Catches/stumpings | 23/– | 54/– | 35/– | 62/– |
| Source: ESPNCricinfo, 8 September 2012 | ||||
Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976) is a former Australian cricketer. After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket. In each of his first two years, he averaged less than 20 with the ball, but since then has mostly achieved figures in the early 30s.[1]
He is an athletic fielder and useful lower-order batsman, with a batting average exceeding 20 in Test cricket. Together with Mike Hussey, he has held the record for highest 7th wicket partnership for Australia in ODIs since 2005–06 with 123.[2]
Lee is known by his nickname 'Binga', which refers to 'Bing Lee', a chain of electronics stores in New South Wales.
Brett Lee also plays for Kolkata Knight Riders, who won the IPL season five against Chennai Super Kings.[3]
On 13 July 2012, he retired from all forms of international cricket after a calf injury cut short his tour of England with Australia’s One-Day International team. Lee will continue to play in the Indian Premier League and the Big Bash League Twenty20 competitions.
Style
Lee is known for his pace and regularly clocks 150 km/h and above. He ranks behind only Pakistani bowler Shoaib Akhtar (161.3 km/h, 100.2 mph) as the fastest bowler in contemporary cricket during most of the 2000s.[5] The strain of consistently bowling at 150 km/h caused a string of stress fractures and recurring injuries and forced him to alter his strategy, which he has done effectively.[6] Rather than relying on pace alone, he uses a wide array of deliveries aimed at wearing down the batsman.Early in his career, Lee was reported for a suspected illegal bowling action, but was cleared,[7] and was also heavily criticised after bowling a series of beamers at batsmen during a number of ODIs in 2005. Captain Ricky Ponting defended Lee saying that it was not intentional.[8][9]
Batting
Lee is also a competent lower-order batsman. His aggressive style and his strong physique often yields many sixes, including one six which flew out of the Gabba into the practice nets during a Test match against the West Indies in 2005, billed as the biggest six ever hit at that ground.[citation needed]During the 2005 Ashes series, Lee had numerous defiant innings, including a stand of 43 not out in the Second Test at Edgbaston, Australia's highest individual score in that innings. This innings nearly won the match for Australia but the other batsman Michael Kasprowicz was caught behind by Geraint Jones and England won by just two runs. After the memorable match, England all rounder Andrew Flintoff went over to console Lee, a moment which came to symbolise a hotly contested series.[10]
On 2 April 2006, Lee hit his highest Test score of 64 in 68 balls against South Africa at Johannesburg. His previous highest score in Tests was 62 not out which he made against the West Indies in 2000 at the Gabba. Lee nearly surpassed this score on 3 January 2008 against India when he made 59 off 121 balls. Lee had also once again nearly surpassed his highest test score when he had made 63 not out, but unfortunately Ricky Ponting had declared the innings in the 2nd test against the West Indies. As a result of this, he fell one run short of his highest test score.
Lee's highest score in ODI matches is 59 against West Indies at West Indies in March 2012.
Early career
At age 16, Lee began playing first grade cricket for Campbelltown, where he managed to claim the wickets of a few New South Wales cricketers, and Mosman,[11] where at one point, he shared the new ball with Shoaib Akhtar and briefly played alongside England batsman Andrew Strauss.[12][13]Lee was called up to the Australian Under 17 & 19 teams. In March 1994, he was forced out of the Australian under-19 team to tour India due to stress fractures in his lower back and it forced him to remodel his bowling action to minimise the impact on his back. He was awarded a scholarship to attend the AIS Australian Cricket Academy in the 1995–96 season.[14] His contemporaries included fellow internationals Jason Gillespie and Mike Hussey.[15]
Prior to making his first-class debut, Lee played for Mosman and played in the final of the 1996-97 Sydney Grade Cricket competition.[16]
Domestic career
Lee has played domestic cricket for his home state team, the New South Wales Blues, since 1997. He was first named in the squad as the twelfth man for the 14–16 November match against Queensland in the 1997-98 Sheffield Shield.[17] The following week, he made his first-class debut for the Blues against Western Australia and took 3 wickets at 114, including that of the captain Tom Moody.[18] It would be his only appearance in the Sheffield Shield for the rest of the season.[19] He ended a memorable month by taking a 5-wicket haul in the Sydney grade Limited-Overs Cup final against Bankstown on 30 November.[20]During the 1998-99 season Lee was a more regular presence in the latter stages of the Sheffield Shield. He took 14 wickets, including a 5-wicket haul against Tasmania in the second innings.[21] He started the 1999-2000 season by claiming 8 wickets in his first two matches. Such strong performances culminated in his Test debut in December 1999 and he finished the season as the Blues' second-highest wicket taker in the Pura Cup, 24 wickets in 5 matches.[22]
In 2009 he battled back from injury and was a key player in the Blues' success during the Champions League Twenty20. He was named Man of the Match in the final[23] and also won the Man of the Series award.[24]
International career
One month after making his first class debut, Lee was chosen to represent the Australian A team on a tour to South Africa. He claimed two wickets but in that very match, stress fractures in his back from the previous injury had re-opened and Lee was in a back brace for over three months.Test career
By the late 1990s there were calls for Lee to be included in the national squad. Captain Steve Waugh, who also played with him for New South Wales, was impressed by Lee's debut and pushed for his inclusion into the national team. He was eventually chosen in the final 14 for the Test series against Pakistan in 1999 but failed to make the starting 11. By the time the Test series against India came around, he was twelfth man. However, he duly made his Test debut for Australia in December 1999 against the touring Indians, becoming Australia's 383rd Test cricketer.Bowling first change, Lee took a wicket in his first over in Test cricket when he bowled Sadagoppan Ramesh with his fourth delivery. He also captured Rahul Dravid in his first spell before returning to take three wickets in six balls to finish the innings with figures of 5/47 from 17 overs.[25] Lee took thirteen wickets in his opening two Tests at the low average of 14.15.
Lee won the inaugural Donald Bradman Young Player of the Year Award at the Allan Border Medal award ceremony in 2000 soon after his debut.
Lee took 42 wickets in his opening three series, the most by any Australian bowler in the seven matches he played.[26] He was selected for the Test series against the West Indies in late 2000. During the first Test he scored his first half-century in test cricket and in the next Test, took seven wickets including a five wicket haul in the second innings.[27] However, he suffered a stress fracture of the lower back which kept him out of the next three Tests. He returned against Zimbabwe but soon suffered another setback a month later when he broke his right elbow and was sidelined until May 2001.[citation needed]
Return from injury
Lee returned to the international team for the 2001 Ashes series after recovering from an elbow injury. His comeback saw less success than his debut, managing only nine wickets in five Tests at 55.11. However, Lee was back as Australia's leading wicket-taker in the first and third Test against New Zealand later that year, in a series which he captured 5 wickets in the second innings and made a contribution of 61 with the bat in the first Test match. The series ended in a 0–0 draw. He finished the series with 14 wickets at 25.14. The two home and away series against South Africa were not as productive, yielding 19 wickets in six Tests at 38.42.Lee only took five wickets in a match on three occasions between the New Zealand series and the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Lee came under pressure for his position after taking only five wickets at 46.50 in the three-Test series against Pakistan in 2002. Andy Bichel, who was filling for the injured Jason Gillespie, took eight wickets at 13.25. With the other frontline bowlers all taking wickets at less than 13,[28] Lee was dropped when Gillespie returned for the first two Tests during the 2002–03 Ashes series. He returned for the Perth Test, after claiming a five wicket haul in a Pura Cup match against Queensland for New South Wales. He took thirteen wickets at 41.23 in three matches, compared to Bichel's ten at 35.1.[29] After the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Lee took 17 wickets at 28.88 in four Tests against the West Indies. It was the first series in two years where he averaged under 30, and only the second in that period where had averaged under 40.
After a mid year break, he participated in a Two Test series against Bangladesh in northern Australia. He took six wickets at 31.66, and was Australia's most expensive bowler, with the other specialist bowlers averaging 15.55 against the lowest ranked team in Test cricket. He followed this with six wickets at 37 in a comfortable 2–0 Test series against Zimbabwe, in which the other specialist bowlers averaged 23.15.[30]
Against the Indian batting lineup in the 2003–04 home series, which ended in a 1–1 draw for Australia, Lee was out of the first two Tests recovering from a torn abdominal muscle, an injury which he sustained during the Zimbabwe series.[31]
Loss of Test position
Lee took eight wickets in over 100 overs in the final two Tests against India, at an average of 59.50. This Test included a double century to Sachin Tendulkar in the Indians' first innings of 7/705 where Sachin and V.V.S. Laxman freely attacked Lee and other bowlers in the final Test in Sydney. He ended the series with the worst average and economy rate of Australia's front line bowlers.[32]He was subsequently replaced by fellow fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz in 2004 during the tour of Sri Lanka when Lee's ankle injury worsened, forcing him to return home to have surgery. This injury would force Lee out of the game for 4½ months to ensure his full recovery. Lee's form in the Test arena had been ineffective, and from July 2001 to January 2004, he had a Test bowling average of 38.42,[33] compared to an average of 16.07 in his earlier career.
Lee was unable to reclaim his position for eighteen months, when Kasprowicz took 47 wickets at 23.74 in thirteen Tests, taking his wickets at a much lower cost than Lee had done in the previous three years. This included 17 wickets at 26.82 on the spin friendly pitches of the Indian subcontinent, helping Australia to its first whitewash in Sri Lanka, and its first series win in India for 35 years.[34]
Test return
Part of Lee's difficulty at Test level is that the benefits of his high speed, which give the batsmen less reaction time, also results in more erratic bowling. In recent times he has tried to concentrate solely on accuracy by reducing speed. During the first Test against the West Indies in late 2005 at the Gabba, after declaring that he would sacrifice pace and focus on 'line and length',[35] Lee reverted to his initial style of bowling, based on the advice of his captain Ricky Ponting after his new method of bowling failed in the first innings.[36] This saw him take 5/30 his fifth five-wicket haul in Tests, his first in four years.
In the 2005-06 Australian cricket season, Lee's Test figures improved from his 2001–04 difficulties, with a season bowling average of 25.74.
During South Africa's 2005–06 tour of Australia, Lee's form saw a steady improvement, with figures of 5/93 in the first Test at Perth. He finished the three Test series with 13 wickets and of the Australian bowlers, was second only to Shane Warne's 14 wickets in the series. Three Australian players including Lee, who was reprimanded in the Third Test in Sydney for showing dissent towards umpire Aleem Dar.[37]
With the unavailability of Glenn McGrath for the tour of South Africa in March–April 2006, Lee became the spearhead of the Australian bowling lineup.[38] In the second Test of that series, at Durban, Lee captured his 200th Test wicket in his 51st match and also captured figures of 5 for 69, on the back of 49 Test wickets in 2005.[39] He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. He was unable to maintain his performance when Australia visited Bangladesh for a two Test series, taking two wickets at 93, coming bottom of Australia's bowling averages.[40]
In the first three tests of the 2006–07 Ashes series, he only took eight wickets and was fined for excessive appealing in the Third Test in Adelaide when a LBW decision was not in his favour.[37] However during the week period between the Adelaide and Melbourne tests, he worked with Troy Cooley, Australia's bowling coach, to adjust his run up and came back in the 4th and final tests with more wickets. He finished the series 20 wickets, with his best bowling figures being 4 for 47 at an average of 33.20, including 6 in the final test. His tally was only bettered by his teammates Stuart Clark, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath as the quartet claimed more wickets than the entire England bowling attack combined.[41]
Post McGrath-Warne era
Following the retirements of Warne and McGrath, Lee rose to the challenge and was awarded the Man of the Series in the inaugural Warne-Muralidaran Trophy, a two-Test series against Sri Lanka in late-2007. In his first series as bowling spearhead reaped 16 wickets at an average of 17.5. This was achieved by bowling 5 km/h slower to improve accuracy. In the following series Lee took 24 wickets at 22.58 in four Tests against India. In this series he overtook Jason Gillespie to become Australia's 5th highest wicket taker. His consistent efforts saw him rewarded with the Man of the Series Award for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 2007–08. He capped off the season by winning the Allan Border Medal, the award given to the player adjudged Australia's best international cricketer of the past year.Lee seemed underdone in the 2008 Australian tour of the West Indies, taking only 5 wickets in the first Test match, during which he seemed exhausted. He returned to productivity, taking eight wickets in the Second test, including a 5 wicket haul, and 6 in the Third Test.
During the Indian tour, Lee picked up a stomach virus and was unable to find his best form throughout the series. Lee showed glimpses of his best form[citation needed] when the team returned to Australia for a two test series with New Zealand, but generally seemed down on pace. However, he struggled in the two tests he played of the series with South Africa, which Australia lost 2–1, likely due to a niggling ankle injury and then a stress fracture he developed during the series (both in his left foot). The fracture broke completely during the second innings of the Boxing Day Test-match and he was forced to return home for surgery.
By the time he returned to the Australian team for the Ashes in 2009, his position as spearhead had been usurped by the left armer Mitchell Johnson. Additionally, the arrival of bowlers like Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger ensured that Lee had to fight for a position in the team. However, he took six wickets in the first innings against the England Lions team in a practice match leading up to the Ashes. Lee was the only bowler to get reverse swing in this match and appeared to be in line for selection for the First Test at Cardiff. However, he picked up a left side strain and a sore rib in this match and he was ruled out of the first three Tests. He was then overlooked for a recall and never played test cricket again, announcing his retirement from test cricket at the beginning of 2010.
Retirement
Lee had been considering retiring from Test cricket for some time since 2008 due to the physical strain. In February 2010, he announced his retirement from Test cricket after consulting friend and England rival Andrew Flintoff, stating that bowling "at 150km/h for five days is very hard on the body".[10][42] He had been out with a string of injuries and had not played a Test since December 2008. He ended his Test career with 310 wickets in 76 tests, the fourth highest Australian total behind Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee. On the 13th of July, 2012, Brett Lee announced his complete retirement from all forms of cricket.[43]One-day International career
In One-day Internationals, he was ranked by the ICC as the No. 1 ODI bowler in January 2006[44] and has been ranked among the top ten ODI bowlers since the start of 2003. His bowling strike rate of around 30 puts him amongst the most incisive in this form of the game. He also has a One-day International hat-trick to his name, achieved in the 2003 World Cup against Kenya. Lee was the first Australian and fourth bowler to ever achieve this feat in World Cup history.
In the matches Australia played in the 2005–06 triangular one day series, Lee gave a display of his useful batting abilities by making 57 in the second game in a 100 run partnership with Michael Hussey to pull Australia out of a middle order collapse. Lee finished the series with 15 wickets, the third highest tally behind Nathan Bracken and Muttiah Muralitharan.
His bowler-fielder partnership with long-time international teammate and wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist yielded 58 wickets in 151 matches, the fourth highest of all time in ODI history.[45]
2003 World Cup
With main bowler Shane Warne banned from the 2003 World Cup the day before the opening match, Lee moved up the pecking order and, together with Andy Bichel and Glenn McGrath, formed one of the tournament's most lethal attacks, claiming 59 wickets between them. Lee concluded the tournament with 22 wickets off 83.1 overs at an average of 17.90, a wicket behind Sri Lankan left-arm fastbowler Chaminda Vaas. Lee also had a third leading strike-rate of 22.68 behind West Indian fast bowler Vasbert Drakes and Australian counterpart Andrew Bichel who topped the strike-rates with 19.43 and 21.37 respectively. He also reached the 160 km/h mark twice; his delivery to Marvan Atapattu in the semi-final of the reached 160.1 km/h (99.5 mph)[46] and hit 160.6 km/h in his first over against England in the group stage.[47]Lee earned six of his 22 wickets during the group stage, 11 wickets during the Super-six stage, 3 from the semi-final and 2 wickets from the final which Australia won. He took one five-wicket haul, 5 for 42, against Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand during their super-six encounter at Port Elizabeth to put Australia ahead after a dismal innings.[48] He also earned his first international hat trick with figures of 3 for 14 against Kenya during the last match of the super-six stage.[49]
Comeback
After having to return home due to injury during the 2007 World Cup, Lee was part of the successful 2009 ICC Champions Trophy squad and was level on 6 wickets with teammates Peter Siddle and Shane Watson, the highest total for the Australian team. Injuries sustained in test matches forced him out until 2011, having not played for Australia for almost two years. He played the two T20s at the MCG and the Adelaide Oval against England. In the subsequent ODI series, his return was more successful. He finished as the leading wicket-taker for the series with 11 scalps at 24.00, his series best figures of 3/27 coming in the third match at the SCG. His pace was consistently around the mid 140s km/h and on occasion he once again managed to break the 150 km/h mark.[citation needed].Despite competition from younger bowlers and another injury setback, Lee managed to make the squad for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. He finished the tournament with 13 wickets, the highest of all the bowlers in the team. Of the 13 wickets, 4 came in the match against Pakistan but it was not enough as Australia lost the match and eventually crashed out at the semifinals to rivals India.
Against the West Indies in March 2012 he hit his highest score, 59 before getting caught off a ball by Kemar Roach.
Retirement
competitions.[50]Lee retired after a 13-year international career that included 76 Tests, 221 ODIs and 25 T20Is. He left international cricket as the joint highest ODI wicket-taker for Australia (380 wickets) with Glenn McGrath[51] (seventh in the all-time list), and one of only four Australians to take more than 300 Test wickets. [4]
Shoaib Akhtar, the Pakistan fast bowler, paid tribute to pace rival Brett Lee who announced his retirement from international cricket, saying the Australian was a fierce competitor. “Lee was a fierce competitor and became an identity for express bowling with his passion and love for the game and for fast bowling,” Akhtar said.[52]
“His record as a wicket-taker and leader of the attack is fantastic and speaks for itself but his resilience and ability to bounce back after numerous injuries has also been impressive,” said James Sutherland, Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer.[4]
John Inverarity, the Australian National Selector, added, “Today one of Australia’s most outstanding fast bowlers announced his retirement. Brett Lee’s record speaks for itself. He first represented Australia as an exciting fast bowler in the Boxing Day Test in 1999 and played his last match for Australia on 7 July this year. The statistics only tell part of the story. Brett has been an absolute ornament to the game; a fine player, a fierce and brave competitor, a generous opponent and one who always upheld the highest standards of sportsmanship. He has been a cricketer in every sense of the word.".[4]
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