Full Name : Brett Lee
Date of Birth : 8th November 1976
Place of Birth : Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Nick Name : Bing, Binga, The Speedster
Height : 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Batting Style : Right-Handed
Bowling Style : Right-Arm Fast
Role : Bowler
Test Debut (cap 383): 26th December 1999 v India
ODI Debut (cap 140) : 9th January 2000 v Pakistan
Brett Lee is an 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.
Brett Lee 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 (123).
Style
Lee is a fast bowler, one of the fastest the game has known. Lee ranks behind only Pakistani bowler Shoaib Akhtar as the fastest bowler in contemporary cricket during most of this decade. Akhtar's delivery at 161.3km/h (100.2mph) stands as the fastest recorded to date.
Early in his career, Lee was reported for a suspected illegal bowling action, but was cleared. Brett Lee was also criticised in early 2005 for bowling a series of beamers at batsmen during ODIs, at a rate which lead some to claim he was deliberately bowling illegal head high full tosses at batsmen.
Early Career
In March 1994, Lee was forced out of the Australian under-19 team to tour India due to stress fractures in his lower back. Brett Lee recovered and made his first-class debut for New South Wales against Western Australia in a Sheffield Shield match as a 20-year old in the 1997–98 season, playing one match and taking 3/114.
One month later, Lee was chosen to represent the Australian A team on a tour to South Africa. Brett Lee 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.
During the 1997-98 season, he played in five of the ten Sheffield Shield games, taking fourteen wickets at 30. Brett Lee finished outside the top 20 in both the wicket taking list and the bowling averages.
Test Career
Early Test careerBy the late 1990s there were calls for Lee to be included in the national squad. Brett Lee 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.
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. However, in his seventh Test, where he took seven wickets including a five wicket haul in the second innings against the West Indies, he suffered a stress fracture of the lower back which kept him out of three following Tests. Brett Lee returned against Zimbabwe but soon suffered another setback a month later when he broke his right elbow and was sidelined until May 2001.
Return from injury Lee returned to the international team on the 2001 Ashes tour of England after recovering from an elbow injury. Brett Lee 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. Brett Lee 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.
After a mid year break, he participated in a Two Test series against Bangladesh in northern Australia. Brett Lee 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. Brett Lee 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.
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.
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. Brett Lee ended the series with the worst average and economy rate of Australia's front line bowlers.
Brett Lee 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, compared to an average of 16.07 in his earlier career.
Test Return
Brett Lee bowling against South Africa at the WACA in 2005After 18 months on the sidelines and a plea to the selectors and media regarding his constant position as 12th man in the team, Lee returned to the Test team in the 2005 Ashes series. With Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie both struggling for form, Lee returned to take the new ball with Glenn McGrath. Brett Lee averaged 40 with the ball for the series, which some commentators have put down to having to bowl longer spells than he was accustomed to at the time, but was retained, in part because of his defiant batting which yielded runs at an average of 26.33. Despite his high bowling average for the series he was considered by many[weasel words] as one of Australia's best players along with leg-spinner Shane Warne and batsman Justin Langer.
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', 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.This saw him take 5/30 his fifth five-wicket haul in Tests, his first in four years.
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. Brett Lee 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.
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. 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. Brett Lee was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Brett Lee 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.
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. 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. Brett Lee finished the series with 20 wickets, with his best bowling figures being 4 for 47 at an average of 33.20. His performance was bettered by the other three major Australian bowlers: Stuart Clark with 26 wickets, Shane Warne with 23 wickets and Glenn McGrath with 21 wickets were ahead of him. Lee was however the fourth highest wicket-taker in the 2006/07 Ashes series ahead of all the English bowlers.
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. Brett Lee 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 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, Lee has since had surgery to repair his ankle and foot and is expected to be out for up to ten weeks.
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. Brett Lee was then overlooked for a recall and never played test cricket again, announcing his retirement from test cricket at the beginning of 2010.One-Day International Career
Lee bowling against Pakistan at Lord's, 2004-09-04 Lee made his debut in One Day International for Australia against Pakistan on 9 January 2000 during the Carlton and United Breweries Series at the Gabba, Brisbane. Brett Lee became the 140th ODI cricketer to represent Australia.
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. Brett Lee has a wide array of deliveries including a dangerous in-swinging yorker. Brett Lee bowling strike rate of around 30 puts him amongst the most incisive in this form of the game. Brett Lee 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.
Lee finished the series with 15 wickets, the third highest tally behind Nathan Bracken and Muttiah Muralitharan.
While Lee's average and strike rate in ODIs rank him as one of the best strike bowlers in ODI history, he can still be erratic occasionally, as shown by his relatively high economy rate.
Lee also has the ability to take wickets very early in the innings, often removing batsmen in the first over of the innings. The delivery he bowled to Marvan Atapattu in the semi-final of the 2003 Cricket World Cup, reached 160.1 km/h (99.5 mph).
Cricket World Cup 2003
During the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Brett Lee was one of the leading performers for Australia. Brett Lee concluded the tournament with 22 wickets off 83.1 overs at an average of 17.90 finishing second to Sri Lankan left-arm fastbowler Chaminda Vaas who took 23 wickets during that tournament. 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.
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Brett Lee peaked during this tournament in terms of his bowling speed. It was at this world cup Lee bowled his previous fastest recorded delivery of 160.7km/h against England at Port Elizabeth during their group match.
One day international come back After many unsuccessful attempts, Lee finally made a comeback to international cricket in 2011, having not played for Australia for almost two years. Brett Lee played the two T20s at the MCG and the Adelaide Oval against England. In the subsequent ODI series, his return was more successful. Brett Lee 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. Brett Lee pace was consistently around the mid 140s km/h and on occasion he once again managed to break the 150 km/h mark. Brett Lee was a member of the Australian squad in the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
On 2 April 2006, Lee hit his highest Test score of 64 in 68 balls against South Africa at Johannesburg. Brett Lee 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 57 against South Africa at the Gabba in January 2006.
Retirement from Tests In February 2010, Lee retired from Test cricket in a bid to prolong his career in the limited-overs department. Brett Lee had been repeatedly injured and had not played a Test since December 2008. Brett Lee played 76 Tests taking 310 wickets. Australian fast bowling great Dennis Lillee paid tribute to him saying "Brett is going to go down as one of the great all-time express bowlers in the world ... 150-plus km/h puts a huge strain on the body and it can only take so much. For him to play 76 Tests and 300-odd wickets doing what he does is a credit to him."
Brett Lee friend, English cricketer Andrew Flintoff suggested that he should take retirement from Test Cricket in order to extend his ODI and T20 career.
Awards
The Donald Bradman Young Player of the Year 2000
The Wisden Young Cricketer of the Year 1999–00
Chosen in "Australia's Greatest ODI XI", selected by former and present Australian ODI representatives
Chosen in the ODI Team of the Year 2005 at the ICC Awards
Chosen in the Test Team of the Year 2006 at the ICC Awards
Chosen in the ODI Team of the Year 2006 at the ICC Awards
VB Series Player of the Series 2002–03
VB Series Player of the Series 2004–05
DLF Cup Player of the Tournament 2006
Warne-Muralitharan Trophy Player of the Series 2007
Border-Gavaskar Trophy Player of the Series 2007–08
2007 McGilvray Medallist for ABC's Australian Test Player of the year.
2008 Australian Test Player of the Year
2008 Allan Border Medallist
Chosen in the ODI Team of the Year 2008 at the ICC Awards
Chosen in the Test Team of the Year 2008 at the ICC Awards
2009 Champions League 20/20 Player of the Series
Personal Life
The brothers enjoyed soccer, basketball and skiing and were encouraged to play the piano by their mother (Grant is a qualified pianist). At sixteen years of age, Lee began playing first grade cricket for Campbelltown, where he managed to claim the wickets of a few New South Wales cricketers. Brett Lee later joined Mosman, where at one point, he shared the new ball with Shoaib Akhtar.
Lee launched his own fashion label 'BL', in 2001.
Lee married Elizabeth Kemp in June 2006. They have a son named Preston Charles, born 16 November 2006. However, after two years of marriage, on 21 August 2008, Lee confirmed his separation from Kemp.They divorced in 2009.
At the time of the split, media speculation cited Kemp was having an affair with a rugby player in Brisbane; however, this was later disputed, with extended periods of loneliness due to Lee's off-season commitments keeping him away from Kemp and his young son Preston given as the reason for the marriage breakdown.
During the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy in India, Lee recorded a duet with India's music diva Asha Bhosle called You're the One For Me. The song reached a peak position of number two on the Indian and South African charts. In 2008, he filmed scenes for his first Bollywood movie Victory. Brett Lee once hosted a short-lived TV program called "Personal Best".
Endorsements
Lee's sponsorship deals include the breakfast cereal Weet-Bix (which at one time were marketed as "Brett-Bix"),Gatorade and Volkswagen, of which Lee has two vehicles.
On the field sponsorship includes uvex Safety Eyewear. Brett Lee is currently not sponsored by any cricket equipment manufacturer. Travelex has also developed the game Brett Lee's Backyard Cricket in which a caricature of Lee is featured.
Owing to Lee's popularity in India, he has a number of major sponsorship deals there, including for Timex watches, New Balance shoes, Boost energy drink and TVS Motor Company.
Charity Work
Career Highlights
Tests Lee's Best Test Bowling figures of five for 30 came against the West Indies at The Gabba, Brisbane in 2005
Lee's 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
Brett Lee best Test batting score of 64 was made against South Africa, Johannesburg, 2006
Brett Lee made his 1,000th Test run in his 53rd Test against Bangladesh at Fatullah in 2006
Lee's 250th wicket was Anil Kumble in his 62nd Test against India at Melbourne in 2007
Lee's 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
Brett Lee best ODI bowling figures of five for 22 came against South Africa, Melbourne
Lee's best ODI batting score of 57 was made against South Africa, Gabba, 2005–06
Lee's 100th ODI wicket was Andrew Caddick, against England at the M.C.G. in 2003
Lee's 200th wicket was Marcus Trescothick, against England at Lord's in 2005
Lee's 300th wicket was Darren Sammy, against West Indies at St George's in 2008
Lee is the first (and currently the only) bowler to take 5 wickets twice in One Day Internationals played at Lord's
Other Lee was the first player in Twenty20 International cricket to take a Hat-trick.
Lee played for the Kings XI Punjab team owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta and Businessman Ness Wadia in the Indian Premier League
Brett Lee will now be playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders during the 2011 season.
Soon after Lee was selected for Australia, a racing greyhound was named after him and was regarded as one of the best greyhounds in Australian history after winning 31 of 39 races and breaking six track records before its death in August 2010
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