Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976) is a former Australian cricketer and a Channel Nine cricket commentator. During his international career, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in the world of 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. He was also known as an athletic fielder and useful lower-order batsman, with a batting average exceeding 20 in Test cricket.
On 13 July 2012, Lee announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket. Having declined to renew his contract with his home state side New South Wales, he continues to play T20 cricket in the IPL and Big Bash League. For the 6th season of Indian Premier League he did double duty for Kolkata Knight Riders, taking on the role of bowling mentor in addition to his playing role.
Brett Lee
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | 8 November 1976 Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | Bing, Binga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting style | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling style | Right-arm fast | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | Bowler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relations | S Lee (brother) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
T20I debut(cap 7) | 17 February 2005 v New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last T20I | 30 March 2012 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1995–2012 | New South Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2008–2010 | Kings XI Punjab | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011– | Kolkata Knight Riders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 | Wellington | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011–2014 | Sydney Sixers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013– | Otago Volts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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8 September 2012 |
Early career
Lee started playing in the junior teams of his local side, Oak Flats Rats, and gradually worked his way up the ranks. At 16 he began playing first grade cricket for Campbelltown, where he managed to claim the wickets of a few New South Wales cricketers, and Mosman, where at one point, he shared the new ball with Shoaib Akhtar and briefly played alongside England batsman Andrew Strauss.
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. His contemporaries included fellow internationals Jason Gillespie and Mike Hussey.
Prior to making his first-class debut, Lee played for Mosman in the final of the 1996–97 Sydney Grade Cricket competition.
Fig : Lee bowling against Pakistan at Lords, 2004-09-04
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 Lees 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 Australias 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, becoming the first Australian fast bowler since Dennis Lillee to take 5 wickets on debut. Lee took thirteen wickets in his opening two Tests at the low average of 14.15.
BrettLee Test Debut vs IND
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. 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. 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
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 Australias 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 Australias best international cricketer of the past year.
Fig : Brett Lee bowling against South Africa at the WACA in 2005
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.
Brett lee The Champion of Bowling The speedstar bestBowling Figures
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". 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.
One-day International career
Lee made his One Day International debut for Australia against Pakistan on 9 January 2000 during the Carlton and United Breweries Series at the Gabba, Brisbane. He became the 140th ODI cricketer to represent Australia. In February 2002 against South Africa, he scored his first ODI half century, 51* not out.
In One-day Internationals, he was ranked by the ICC as the No. 1 ODI bowler in January 2006 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.
BrettLee Tribute - Best 100 Wickets Compilation
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 tournaments 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) and hit 160.7 km/h in his first over against England in the group stage.
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. 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.
Retirement
Upon his retirement form international cricket, Lee had played in 76 Tests, 221 ODIs and 25 T20Is, and had equaled Glenn McGraths run of 380 wickets in ODI matches – the highest for Australia.
Best deliveries by Brett Lee
Twenty20
Lee made his Twenty20 and T20 International debut on 15 February 2005 against New Zealand in the first ever T20 international match.He was called up to the squad for the 2007 ICC World Twenty20. During the tournament, he made history by claiming the first hat trick in T20 internationals in the Group F match against Bangladesh and also won the Man of the Match award.
Awards
• 2000 Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year
• 1999–2000 Wisden Young Cricketer of the Year
• 2002–03 VB Series Player of the Series
• 2004–05 VB Series Player of the Series
• 2005 ICC Awards – ODI Team of the Year
• 2006 Wisden Cricketer of the Year
• 2006–07 DLF Cup Player of the Tournament
• 2006 ICC Awards – ODI Team of the Year
• Australias Greatest ODI XI
• 2007 Warne-Muralitharan Trophy Player of the Series
• 2007–08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Player of the Series
• 2008 McGilvray Medal
• 2008 Australian Test Player of the Year
• 2008 Allan Border Medal
• 2008 ICC Awards – ODI Team of the Year
• 2008 ICC Awards – Test Team of the Year
• 2009 Champions League Twenty20 Player of the Series
Career highlights
Tests
• Lees best Test bowling figures of five for 30 came against the West Indies at The Gabba, Brisbane in 2005
• Lees 100th wicket was Marcus Trescothick in his 27th Test against England at Sydney in 2003
• Lee took his 200th wicket, Mark Boucher, in his 51st Test against South Africa at Durban in 2006
• His best odi batting score of 64 was made against South Africa, Johannesburg, 2006
• He made his 1,000th Test run in his 53rd Test against Bangladesh at Fatullah in 2006
• Lees 250th wicket was Anil Kumble in his 62nd Test against India at Melbourne in 2007
• Lees 300th wicket was Jamie How in his 73rd Test against New Zealand at Brisbane on 22 November 2008
One-day Internationals
ODI Debut: vs Pakistan, Gabba, Brisbane, 1999–00
• His best ODI bowling figures of five for 22 came against South Africa, Melbourne
• Lees best ODI batting score of 59 was made against West Indies in Gabba, 2005–06
• in the Indian tour,he bowled averaging less than the 20s.
• Lees 100th ODI wicket was Andrew Caddick, against England at the M.C.G. in 2003
• Lees 200th wicket was Marcus Trescothick, against England at Lords in 2005
• Lees 300th wicket was Darren Sammy, against West Indies at St Georges in 2008
• Lees 350th wicket was Nuwan Kulasekara, against Sri Lanka at Kandy in 2011 thus becoming just the second bowler in Australian History to get 350 Wickets.
• Lee is the first (and currently the only) bowler to take 5 wickets twice in One Day Internationals played at Lords
Records
• Lee was the first player in Twenty20 International cricket to take a hat-trick.
• Lee is the fastest Australian ODI player to take 100 wickets. He reached the milestone in his 54th match. He is also second on the world list which is led by Saqlain Mushtaq who achieved the feat in one less match(53 matches)
• Lee along with Bob Willis are the only cricketers to take more than 300 wickets in Test career without having even a single ten wicket haul in a match.
• AS of June 2013, he along with Zaheer Khan are the only Test cricketers with 300 or more wickets but only 10(the least among the 300wicket club) 5-wicket hauls in test innings.