IAN BAKER - BRETT LEE IS ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS

"Brett Lee, Brett Lee, give us a wave," chanted some of the England support towards the end of the Boxing Day Test 2002 inside a near-empty MCG, made up mainly of the Barmy Army contemplating yet another Ashes hammering.

The Aussie fast bowler duly responded to the English followers and was met by a further song: "Keep your arm straight when you wave."

A big huge beaming smile developed on the New South Walian. Lee had received some harsh treatment from English supporters during that series with shouts of "no ball" every time he ran in, a reaction to false allegations over his bowling action.

But Lee laughed off the songs and banter. He let his showmanship and bowling do the talking. One of cricket's good guys, Lee is loved throughout the cricketing world.

One of the most iconic images in cricket is Freddie Flintoff consoling Lee after England had scraped home by two runs at Edgbaston in 2005. But what made it such a good image was the genuine belief that Lee would have done the same if roles were reversed.

So the news that the fast bowler could be forced into retirement if his elbow injury does not improve comes as a blow to anyone with a love of the game.

Not only is Lee a great sporting personality, a showman and all-round nice guy, he is also a mighty fine bowler when fully fit.

He has had some great moments in test cricket - in South Africa in 2006 and against Sri Lanka a year later. But unlike predecessors, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne maybe not the luck that his efforts deserved.

Lee as a character and a cricketer is very English in his approach which is part of his appeal particularly to English fans. Similar in style and character to Flintoff and Darren Gough, Englishmen have wished that he was one of their own.

Lee is a talisman and despite a less than impressive bowling average of 30.81 from 76 tests that does not tell the story on what effect he can have on his side.

But just like Flintoff and Gough the injuries are starting to persist. Stomach, ankle, foot and now elbow problems have hampered his progress and the signs are that he may well call time on his test career at the age of 33.

That would be a great shame. Cricket needs more characters like Lee. And even the England fans that barracked him in 2002 are unlikely to disagree. Perhaps even if he wins the Ashes back for the Aussies next winter.

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Brett Lee to resume bowling next week

Melbourne: Australian fast bowler Brett Lee, who flew back home midway from the ODI series against India due an elbow injury, will resume bowling next week.

Cricket Australia (CA) said on Wednesday that both Lee and wicketkeeper Tim Paine, who fractured his finger, underwent check-ups here and nothing serious was found.

CA physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said: "Brett has seen a specialist and CA medical staff in Melbourne. He had a scan that confirmed the cause of the pain as being a long standing bone spur near the elbow joint. It is felt there is no major problem with the joint and we are optimistic that he may be able to resume bowling fairly soon, possibly some time next week."

On Paine he said: "Tim Paine saw a hand specialist in Melbourne today and Tim doesn't require surgery to the fractured ring finger of his left hand. He will recommence cricket training in approximately three weeks time."

Kontouris also said that vice-captain Michael Clarke, who missed the ODI series in India with a back injury, has recovered well and would be available for selection for the first Test against the West Indies.

"Michael is making good progress and it's hoped he'll play for New South Wales before the first Test against the West Indies," he said.

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Brett Lee out of India series

Brett Lee will return to Australia to consult with specialists after being ruled out of the remainder of the India tour.

Injury-ravaged Australia's campaign in the ongoing one-day series against India received a body blow with pace spearhead Brett Lee ruled out because of an elbow injury.

The 32-year-old would return home midway through the series to consult specialists, the team management said in a statement.

Lee was unable to complete his 10-over spell during the first ODI against India in Baroda and was not available for selection in the second match of the series in Nagpur.

Today, he had a light practice at the Ferozeshah Kotla and captain Ricky Ponting said he was 85 percent fit.

"Brett's elbow injury has not responded as well to treatment as we would have liked and therefore a decision has been made to send him home to consult with an elbow specialist," team physiotherapist Kevin Sims said.

"With an accurate diagnosis we can determine how best to manage the injury and give Brett the best chance of being available for selection at the beginning of the Australian summer," he added.

"Cricket Australia's National Selection Panel are working through the process of naming a replacement player and this will be advised in due course," the statement read.

Australia arrived here without Michael Clarke, Callum Ferguson and Brad Haddin. Their second choice stumper Tim Paine also fractured his finger in the last match in Nagpur to return home, while his replacement Graham Manou is expected to arrive today.
Lee had a sore elbow which kept him out of action, while a hamstring injury has sidelined all-rounder James Hopes.

The series is currently level 1-1 with the third match scheduled here tomorrow.

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I'm not finished yet, insists Lee

The Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee has no plans of cutting down on any formats of the game to prolong his career.

The wear and tear of the last 10 years have taken a toll on Lee's body but he is not ready to say goodbye any format of the game.

"I love Twenty20"

Lee said the focus now is to get his place back in the Australian Test squad but he was not planning to sacrifice ODIs or Twenty20 to achieve that.

"To constantly bowl 150 kmph for 10-15 years will obviously result in injuries but I am not finished yet. I am feeling fresh and still have lot more years of cricket left. I still love the game and have passion for the game," Lee said on Thursday.
"Any opportunity to play for your country is something special and as bowler I am certainly not complaining. I love to play all formats of the game. I love Twenty20, it is exciting but I am hungry as ever to get back in the Test team," he added.

The 33-year-old pacer said the injury sustained during the first ODI against India in Vadodara was unfortunate and he was hoping for a commendable performance in rest of the seven-match series to earn his place back in the Test side.

He also ruled out suggestions that playing in the Champions League just before the bilateral series had anything to do with his injury.

"I don't think my injury has anything to do with Champions League. I wanted to play as much as possible, especially after bowling in the nets throughout the Ashes.
"The opportunity came up when we qualified for the Champions League last year. I was born in New South Wales so I am always ready to represent it whenever I get an opportunity.

But having said that playing for Australia definitely comes first," said Lee.
"It is unfortunate that I picked up a slight elbow niggle during the first ODI."
Incidentally, Australia skipper Ricky Ponting had earlier claimed that the inaugural Champions League has hindered his side's preparation for the series as three of his key players -- Lee, Nathan Hauritz and Doug Bollinger were busy playing for NSW in the cash-rich Twenty20 event.

Lee, however, refused to speculate on his availability for the third ODI here on Saturday.

"I will know whether I would be able to play only after tomorrow's training. I am not going to make any call today, but hope I will be there. I have not had much rest for the last 4 to 6 months, so it is bound to happen," he said.

After the thrilling win in the series opener, Australia slumped to a humiliating defeat in the second ODI on Wednesday, but Lee said it would be wrong to undermine the visitors as the series is still young.

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Hopes out for Nagpur, doubts over Lee and Johnson

Australia have been hit with injury worries to their bowlers just one game into the seven-match series against India, with James Hopes ruled out of the second match and a question mark over the availability of strike bowlers Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson.

Allrounder Hopes suffered a hamstring strain during the first match in Vadodara on Sunday. Mitchell Johnson left the field briefly with a left ankle problem while Lee complained of a sore elbow. Lee managed only six overs during the chase, left the field after his second spell and later returned.

"Hopes, Lee and Johnson all underwent scans in Vadodara this morning," team physiotherapist Kevin Sims said. "James has suffered a minor right hamstring strain. He will therefore be unavailable for the next game... however [he] is expected to be available for the latter games of this series.

"Brett Lee has a mild right elbow strain and will continue to be treated and assessed prior to the next game.

"Mitchell Johnson suffered an inversion strain of his left ankle. He will now receive treatment and, as with Brett, it will depend on how he responds to treatment over the next two days before a decision is made on his availability for the second game of the series."

Australia lost key players Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Nathan Bracken to injuries before the tour began. The captain Ricky Ponting didn't hide his displeasure over the scheduling of the ODI series, which began just three days after the Champions League Twenty20, where the New South Wales players arrived in Vadodara to join the rest of their Australia team-mates less than 12 hours before the match.

The second ODI is in Nagpur on Wednesday.

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Lee powers NSW to Airtel CL T20 title

New South Wales were crowned the inaugural Airtel CL T20 winners after they snapped Trinidad & Tobago's fairytale campaign with a 41-run victory.

In a high-voltage summit clash in Hyderabad on Friday night, New South Wales had the last laugh with Brett Lee as their star performer.

In the title showdown featuring top two teams of the tournament, it was a battle between Caribbean flair and Australian profressionalism.

Put into bat, NSW fumbled and faltered in their innings to slump to 83 for six in the 12th over before finding a messiah in Lee, whose whirlwind 48 off 31 balls, along with Steven Smith's 33, guided them to 159 for nine.

Trinidad & Tobago's chase never gathered momentun and Kieron Pollard's (26 off 15 balls) last ditch attempt was not enough as the Caribbeans side folded for 118 in 15.5 overs.

After his batting heroics, Lee (2/10) was in the thick of action again, claiming two quick wickets to reduce T&T to 21 for three in the first eventful 14 balls.
Lee's second delivery castled the scoreless Wiliam Perkins and the blond pacer returned to catch Lendl Simmons off his own bowling in the next over.

In between, Adrian Barath hit Steve Smith's first three balls for successive fours followed it with a six before returning caught behind off the last delivery.

For T&T, crisis further compounded as Dwayne Bravo (17), and captain Darren Ganga (19) and Denesh Ramadin (16) fell when the team needed them most.

Pollard (26) tried to replicate the form he had shown in the league match against NSW but Nathan Hauritz had other ideas and for T&T, the match was over when Pollard fell in the 15th over.

Earlier, NSW discovered a batting hero in Brett Lee whose stunning 48, along with Steven Smith's 33, took the Australians past the 150-mark after they had slumped to 83 for six inside 12 overs.

Put into bat, NSW never really got going with Ravi Rampaul (3/20) and Dwayne Bravo (2/27) polishing the top order before some poor shot selections did the middle order in.

Down the order, Steven Smith, however, refused to throw in the towel and Lee then came up with a 31-ball blitzkrieg, studded with four fours and five sixes, before falling in the last ball of the innings.

David Warner and Phil Hughes have been key to New South Wales' success in the tournament so far but the left-handed opening pair, for once, proved they too had feet of clay.

Rampaul cleaned up Hughes (3) with the first delivery of his second over and then Bravo combined with an airborne Dave Mohammad to cut short Warner's (19) stay just when the stocky left-hander had started looking his ominous self.

Both the in-form NSW openers back in the hut inside five overs with the score reading a mere 32, this was clearly not the best of starts for the Australian side.

Simon Katich (16) decided to punish Bravo, hitting him for two sixes -- one miscued shot soared over long-on ropes and another effortless pull cleared fine leg -- in the same over before the pacer returned to settle score.

Three balls later, Moises Henriques (4) joined his captain in the hut, holing out in the deep off Kieron Pollard, and NSW were clearly in a hole at 49 for four.

Dave Mohammad removed Ben Rohrer (16) with his first delivery and Rampaul returned to disturb Daniel Smith's timbers in the next over before Lee joined Smith in the middle to steady the ship.

Even after Smith returned, there was no containing Lee who swung his bat to good effect to help the side cross the 150-mark that had looked a distant dream at one stage.

Teams:
New South Wales: PJ Hughes, DA Warner, DLR Smith†, MC Henriques, SM Katich, BJ Rohrer, SPD Smith, B Lee, NM Hauritz, SR Clark, DE Bollinger.

Trinidad & Tobago: A Barath, WKD Perkins, LMP Simmons, D Ganga, DJ Bravo, KA Pollard, D Ramdin†, S Ganga, ND Stewart, D Mohammed, R Rampaul.

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Our form won't count against India - Brett Lee

Brett Lee expects Australia to find it difficult to stamp their authority in the forthcoming ODI series against India despite their recent successes in the format. They beat England 6-1 and went on to win the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa without dropping a game.

"You could put the favourites tag on the Australian team if we were playing somewhere else but, regardless of what has happened in the past, it doesn't really count when we are playing in India," Lee said in Hyderabad, where he is part of the New South Wales team for the Champions League Twenty20. Lee said Australia played some "really, really good cricket" to confirm their status as the No. 1 team but playing India at home was always an uphill task.

"We have to make sure we play our best cricket and of course that experience and momentum will filter on after those last two one-day tournaments we have played and hopefully enable us to play some decent cricket."

India made early exits from the World Twenty20 in England and the Champions Trophy in South Africa after injuries to key players like Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh forced them to field weaker sides in those events. Sehwag and Yuvraj are now fit and Lee said their return would make it tough for the visitors.

"They are a very, very unpredictable side in the nicest way possible and are capable of beating any side on their day. It is a going to be an extremely tough series and I say that based on the experience of having played here."

Lee said the pitches would no longer favour the home side completely. "We are now used to playing on low, slow turning wickets and some of the players have played on such pitches during the Champions League."

The previous ODI series between the sides in India served as evidence to Lee's point: Australia beat India 4-2 as Andrew Symonds, Brad Haddin and Mathew Hayden easily overcame the home challenge. But there are only four members from that squad - Ricky Ponting, Mitchell Johnson, James Hopes and Lee - on this trip. But Lee is not worried. "Some of us are playing the Champions League. It is a perfect entrée into the series," he said.

Lee, who missed the Ashes after picking up an injury at the start of the series, made a successful return, taking 14 wickets in the seven-match series against England, including a five-for at Lord's. "I will never stop bowling fast," Lee said. "I want my Test spot back. I want to be able to take that new ball for Australia in Brisbane."

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Lee steers Australia to 4-0 triumph

Australia registered an easy seven-wicket win over England to take an unbeatable 4-0 lead in the seven-match ODI series.

It was little more than slaughter in the sun as a fiery spell of bowling from Brett Lee and some abject batting once more from England saw Australia claim a resounding triumph in the NatWest one-day series.

With the first four matches now polished off by Australia with the minimum of fuss in the seven-game series a humiliating whitewash looms for Andrew Strauss' side.
England had rested Paul Collingwood and James Anderson but after Australia sauntered past England's total of 220 with seven wickets and 6.2 overs to spare it was the cricket fans who deserved a break from a series which has proved too long, too unwieldy and too one-sided at the end of a hectic summer.

The atmosphere at Lord's at times was not dissimilar from the British library a few miles down the road as the silent masses watched in frustration. By the end many had voted with their feet and accepted the inevitable. Who could blame them?

England were again too timid with the bat, not controlled enough with ball in hand and sloppy in the field against an Australian side re-energised by the return of captain Ricky Ponting who tortured England with a commanding 48 after his fortnight of R&R Down Under.

Yet it was the hostile spell of man-of-the-match Lee, who plundered five wickets for 49 runs, ably supported by the suffocating spin of Nathan Hauritz with two for 23 in his 10 overs, which was the biggest difference between the teams.

England, who desperately miss the injured Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, did not possess enough fire power or, more pertinently, the guts and application they had shown just three weeks ago when delivering that glorious last day to win the Ashes at the Oval.
Ignominy is nothing new for England, of course, in the one-day game.

They were beaten 5-0 by Sri Lanka in 2006. They were defeated 5-0 in India last year and would probably have gone down 7-0 then if the tour had not been temporarily suspended because of the Mumbai terror attack.

The biggest disappointment for England at Lord's, however, was that they had started brightly.

Strauss and Joe Denly, making his first appearance since his infamous pre-match injury in a kickabout, were aggressive until Denly went for 11, caught by Cameron White off the bowling of Lee.

Enter Ravi Bopara, the batsman who promises so much but has delivered so little against Australia this summer. An average of 15 in the Ashes Tests and scores of 49, 27 and 10 in the first three one-dayers had seen the pressure build.

The frustration was that after progressing to 26 he appeared to be poised to cut loose, until he was trapped lbw by Hauritz attempting to sweep.

At that stage England were 96 for two, their best start of the series so far. Salvation beckoned.

But too often this series the middle order has stalled. This time it all but fell out of the sky when Australia took pace out of the game via their spinners, Hauritz and Clarke.

Eleven overs went by without a boundary after Strauss had hit the four which brought up his half century.

And once Strauss had gone for 63, miscuing a leg-side slog to dolly a catch to Nathan Bracken, only Matt Prior with 29 and Owais Shah with 39 made any significant contribution.

Shah was unlucky, standing his ground after a full toss from Shane Watson was caught by Callum Ferguson. Shah believed the ball to be above waist height and therefore a no-ball and while the margin was tight he might have had a case. The umpires disagreed and he was gone.

So meagre was the resistance, however, that England's last five wickets tumbled for 20 runs in 22 balls, Luke Wright, Stuart Broad and Adil Rashid all seeing their stumps uprooted by Lee. A docked tail if there ever was one.

The fact is 220 was not enough. Not nearly enough. A par score on an even Lord's pitch was nearer 275. As Australia went about proving as they fairly rattled along with Tim Paine and Clarke racking up half centuries.

Ryan Sidebottom struggled with his line. Adil Rashid, usually so tight, handed the batsmen a series of leg-side long hops and by 4.30 pm the crowd were reduced to a Mexican Wave. A sure sign that all interest was gone.

Tim Bresnan did manage two wickets, picking up Ponting and Shane Watson but it was scant consolation. As former captain Michael Atherton put it. "England were dire." No-one at Lord's was in disagreement.

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