Sizzling Speedster

An exponent of extreme speed, he is intimidating, ferocious and known to leave batsmen with only a fraction of a second to react once the ball leaves his hand.

His unrelenting passion for the game and his willingness to give his all took its toll as he sustained injuries throughout his career. 

He was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2006 and received the Allan Border Medal in 2008.

Childhood

Brett Lee was born on November 8, 1976 in Wollongong, Australia. He has two brothers.

Football, basketball, cricket and skiing in the Snowy Mountains were three of the early sports that Lee and his brothers were introduced to during the school holidays, and when they were indoors, they played the piano. 

Cricket proved to be the sport Lee excelled in and he had his first official game at the age of nine.

Lee attended Balarang Public School and Oak Flats High School, which later named its cricket ground in his honour.

Test Career

Lee became Australia’s 383rd Test cricketer in the Boxing Day Test against India in 1999. The bowler finished his first match with figures of 5 wickets for 47 runs. He continued with his fantastic form picking up 42 wickets in the first 7 Tests before he suffered a series of injuries that kept him out of the game. 

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.

His form declined as Lee took eight wickets in 100 overs in the final two Tests against India, at an average of 59.50. He ended the series with the worst average and economy rate of Australia’s front line bowlers and was subsequently dropped from the squad.

After 18 months on the sidelines, Lee returned to the Test team in the 2005 Ashes series.

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. He finished the three Test series with 13 wickets.

In the first three tests of the 2006–07 Ashes series, he only took eight wickets; however after working with his bowling coach, he came out strong finishing the five-match series with 20 wickets.  

Lee had been considering retiring from Test cricket for some time since 2008 due to the physical strain. Two years later, he announced his retirement from Test cricket with 310 wickets in 76 tests.

His fastest ball was clocked at 160.8 km/h (99.9 mph) against New Zealand in 2005. In a match against West Indies in 2000/01 he was clocked at 161.8 km/h (100.5 mph), but it was not an official match and therefore not recognised by the ICC.

ODI career

Lee made his ODI debut in 2000 against Pakistan becoming the 140th ODI cricketer to represent Australia.

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. 

In the 2003 World Cup, Lee took 22 wickets off 83.1 overs at an average of 17.90.

After coming back from injuries in 2009, Lee played against England grabbing 12 wickets.

He had a successful campaign in the 2009 ICC Champions trophy with 6 wickets; however, injuries sustained in test matches forced him out until 2011.

Despite competition from younger bowlers and another injury setback, Lee managed to make the squad for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. He finished the tournament with 13 wickets.

Lee ended his ODI career with 380 wickets in 221 matches.

Personal Life

Lee married Elizabeth Kemp in 2006. They have a son. The couple divorced in 2009.

He is part of the rock band Six & Out where he plays the bass guitar or acoustic guitar for the band.

He also 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. He began supporting ADRA along with his brother Shane when a close friend committed suicide.

He has his own fashion brand, ‘THE BL’ collection, and spends time running his foundation ‘Mewsic’ – combining his love of music and India to help provide a better life for underprivileged children  on the sub-continent.