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Australia Cricket Players
Brett Lee
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2006
Brett "Bing" Lee (born November 8, 1976 in Wollongong, New South Wales) is an express fast bowler, and at his fastest is capable of bowling at 160 kilometres per hour (km/h) or 99 miles per hour (mph). His fastest recorded delivery to date is at 160.8 km/h which he bowled against Craig Cumming of New Zealand at Napier on March 5th 2005 in his first over.
By the late 1990s there were calls for him to be included in the national squad. He was eventually chosen in the final 14 for the Test series against Pakistan in 1999 but failed to make the final 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 became the first Australian in 22 years to take a wicket in his first over in test cricket when he bowled Sadagoppan Ramesh for four with his fourth delivery. He also claimed the scalp of Rahul Dravid for nine in his first spell before returning to snare three wickets in six balls to finish the innings with figures of 5/47 from 17 overs. Australia had batted first, and Lee made 27 runs before his debut five-for. Lee took thirteen wickets in his opening two Tests at the impressive 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 debut.
Lee took 40 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 second-innings five-for in an innings victory against the West Indies, he suffered a stress fracture of the lower back which kept him out of three following 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.
Brett Lee made his debut in one-day internationals for Australia against Pakistan on January 9th 2000 during the Carlton and United Series at The Gabba, Brisbane. He became the 140th ODI cricketer to represent Australia. In One-day Internationals Lee is widely regarded as one of the world's finest and most feared bowlers, 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. He has a wide array of deliveries including a dangerous in-swinging yorker. 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.
Lee is also only behind Pakistani spinner Saqlain Mushtaq as the bowler with the second highest number of wickets after 99 ODI matches with 176 wickets. He surpassed Allan Donald as the fast bowler with the most number of wickets after 99 ODI matches.
In the matches Australia played in the 2005-06 triangular one day series, Lee had been listed on Channel 9 team lists as an all-rounder. He gave an indication by making 57 in the second game in a 100 run partnership with Michael Hussey to pull Australia out of a middle order collapse (though they went on to lose the match). However, he is yet to consistently contribute with his batting, and his current ICC ranking hovers around the 90-100 region.
Lee finished the series with 15 wickets, the third highest tally behind Nathan Bracken and Muttiah Muralitharan.
Lee also has a devilish slower ball in which the amount of pace removed from the ball with no discernable change in grip or bowling action is one of the largest in world cricket. This ball can be anywhere from around 100 km/h to around 125 km/h and is used sparingly.
While Lee's average and strike rate in ODIs rank him as one of the best bowlers in ODI history, there is sometimes still an apparent erracticism with his bowling. At his best, he is an extremely damaging bowler and can rip through any batting line-up.
Lee also has the ability to take wickets very early in the innings, often removing batsmen in the first over of the innings
- Full name : Brett Lee
- Born : November 8, 1976, Wollongong, New South Wales
- Batting style : Right-hand bat
- Bowling style : Right-arm fast
- Test debut : Australia v India at Melbourne - Dec 26-30, 1999
- Last Test : Bangladesh v Australia at Chittagong (CDS) - Apr 16-20, 2006
- ODI debut : Australia v Pakistan at Brisbane - Jan 9, 2000
- Last ODI : Bangladesh v Australia at Fatullah - Apr 26, 2006
India Australia Past Series
Tri Series 2006 in Kuala Lumpur
India in Australia 2004 series
ICC Super Series 2005 Cricket Matches
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