Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976) is an Australian former international cricketer, who played all three formats of the game. During his international career, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in the world.
Representing Australia, Lee won multiple ICC titles with the team: the 2003 Cricket World Cup, the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, and the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. Lee was the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the T20 format of the game which he did in 2007 ICC World Twenty20 in the inaugural tournament against Bangladesh, subsequently being the first bowler to do so at an ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Lee was also the first Australian bowler to take a hat-trick at a Cricket World Cup which he did in the 2003 Cricket World Cup Super Match game against Kenya.
In each of his first two years, Lee conceded fewer than 20 runs for every wicket taken, but later recorded figures in the low 30s. He was an athletic fielder and useful lower-order batter, with a batting average exceeding 20 in Test cricket. Lee finished his Test career with 310 wickets, and his One Day International career with 380 wickets. Considered one of the best bowlers of his generation, only Muttiah Muralitharan took more ODI wickets than Lee from 2000 to 2009.
He played his first Test in 1999 and retired from international cricket on 12 July 2012. He subsequently declined to renew his contract with his home state team New South Wales, but continued to play Twenty20 matches for several seasons after, notably in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Big Bash League.
In January 2015, Lee announced his retirement from all forms of the game, effective at the end of the 2014–15 Big Bash League season. He has since found work as a film actor and a Fox Sports commentator.
Contents
Domestic career
Lee started playing in the junior teams of his local team, Oak Flats Rats, and gradually worked his way up the ranks. He also played for Middleton cricket before he played first class career.
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.
Lee was first named in the New South Wales Blues squad as the twelfth man for the 14–16 November match against Queensland in the 1997–98 Sheffield Shield. 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. It would be his only appearance in the Sheffield Shield for the rest of the season. He ended a memorable month by taking a 5-wicket haul in the Sydney grade Limited-Overs Cup final against Bankstown on 30 November.
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. He started the 1999–2000 season by claiming 8 wickets in his first two matches. Such performances impressed his New South Wales teammate Steve Waugh, who was then Australia captain, and culminated in his Test debut in December 1999. He finished the season as the Blues' second-highest wicket taker in the Pura Cup with 24 wickets in 5 matches.
International career
Debut days
One month after making his first class debut, Lee was chosen to represent the Australian A team on a tour of South Africa. He claimed two wickets but in that match stress fractures in his back from the previous injury 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, becoming the first Australian fast bowler since Dennis Lillee to take 5 wickets on debut. Lee took 13 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. 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 injured his right elbow and was sidelined until May 2001.
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.
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.
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 (99 mph) mark thrice; his delivery to Marvan Atapattu in the semi-final reached 160.1 km/h (99.5 mph) and hit 160.7 km/h (99.9 mph)160.6 km/h (99.8 mph) in his second 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.
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.
Bowling style
Lee was known for his pace and regularly clocked 140 km/h (87 mph) and above. He ranks only behind the Pakistani bowler Shoaib Akhtar (161.3 km/h, 100.2 mph) who is ranked as the fastest bowler of all time. The strain of consistently bowling at 150 km/h (93 mph) caused a string of stress fractures and recurring injuries and forced him to alter his strategy, which he amassed effectively. Rather than relying on pace alone, he used a wide array of deliveries aimed at wearing down the batsman, although he has been known to bowl entire spells above the 150 km/h (93 mph) mark. His fastest ball was clocked at 161.1 km/h (100.1 mph) against New Zealand in 2005. In a match against West Indies in 2000/01 he bowled a delivery which was clocked at 161.8 km/h (100.5 mph), but this was later shown to be an erroneous measurement of a 142 km/h delivery.
Early in his career, Lee was reported for a suspected illegal bowling action, but was cleared, 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. His slower balls also has dramatic falls of pace with varying length, often from a cutter grip, where it can go as slow as 100 km/h (62 mph), but it hovers on average around the 115–130 km/h (71–81 mph) range. He is also known to celebrate many bowled wickets with a chainsaw celebration.
Batting
Lee was a competent lower-order batsman. Together with Mike Hussey, he has held the record for highest 7th wicket partnership for Australia in ODIs since 2005–06 with 123. 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 bowlers Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff went over to console Lee. The image of Flintoff consoling Lee was a moment which came to symbolise a hotly contested series.
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.
Coaching career
Lee has worked as a bowling coach for Ireland and Sri Lanka.
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
Australia's 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
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
His best 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
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, 1999–2000
His best ODI bowling figures of five for 22 came against South Africa at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne in 2006.
His best ODI batting score of 59 was made against West Indies in 2012.
His 100th ODI wicket was Andy Caddick, against England at the M.C.G. in 2003
His 200th wicket was Marcus Trescothick, against England at Lord's in 2005
His 300th wicket was Darren Sammy, against West Indies at St George's in 2008
His 350th wicket was Nuwan Kulasekara, against Sri Lanka at Kandy in 2011, 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 Lord's
Records
Lee was the first player in Twenty20 International cricket to take a hat-trick.
Lee is the second fastest Australian ODI player to take 100 wickets (after Mitchell Starc). He reached the milestone in his 55th match. He is fifth on the world list behind Mitchell Starc (52 matches), Saqlain Mushtaq (53 matches) and Shane Bond (54 matches)
Media work
After announcing his retirement from international cricket, Lee joined the Channel Nine cricket commentating team. He assisted author Michael Panckridge in the cricket-related Toby Jones novel series. In 2019, he performed in The Masked Singer Australia as Parrot, placing 11th in the leaderboard.
Lee was cast in the Indo-Australian film UnIndian opposite Tannishtha Chatterjee. The film was shot in Sydney. It was released in India in 2016 and had good takings at the box office.
Personal life
Lee is the second of three sons born to Bob, a metallurgist, and Helen (née Buxton), a piano teacher, and grew up in the Shellharbour suburbs of Oak Flats and Mount Warrigal. His older brother Shane is a retired all rounder and former international and younger brother Grant previously played cricket for New South Wales U-19, and is now an accountant. Lee attended Balarang Public School and Oak Flats High School, which later named its cricket ground in his honour.
The brothers first played cricket together in front of their house using a tennis ball and the garage door as the "wicket-keeper". As a child he idolised Allan Donald and Dennis Lillee, the latter of whom would become a mentor to him as a teenager.
Lee has been known by his nicknames 'Binga', after the chain of electronics store Bing Lee, since his high-school days. He was once briefly nicknamed "Oswald" by former Australian captain and New South Wales teammate Steve Waugh during his early international career. During an ODI around 2000, he was in the batting order behind his brother Shane and Ian Harvey. When Waugh read out the batting order, instead of reading "Lee, Harvey, Lee", he read out "Lee, Harvey, Oswald" (Lee Harvey Oswald).
Lee married Elizabeth Kemp in June 2006. They have a son. After two years of marriage Lee confirmed his separation from Kemp and they divorced in 2009. At the time of the split, media speculation suggested 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 given as the reason for the marriage breakdown. He married Lana Anderson in 2014 after one year of dating; they have two children.
Lee is part of the rock band Six & Out. The band is made up of his brother Shane and former New South Wales cricketers Brad McNamara, Gavin Robertson and Richard Chee Quee. Lee plays the bass guitar or acoustic guitar for the band.
During the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy in India, Lee wrote the lyrics for "You're the One for Me" and recorded it with Indian singer Asha Bhosle. 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.
Charity work
Lee supports a number of charities including the Salvation Army, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and the Make a Wish Foundation, in which Lee was named an 'Official Friend' in honour of his long-standing association with the foundation. He began supporting ADRA along with his brother Shane when a close friend committed suicide. In 2007, Lee initiated Mewsic, a charitable foundation in India which has established six music centres across the country.