SA Footy

Rumour heard on 5AA that after his latest setback that Brett Lee will announce his retirement from the longer form of the game tomorrow and just concentrate on T20s and ODIs. Interesting if true.

I wouldn't be surprised because the writing is on the wall.

Regardless of whether he retires or not I wouldn't consider Lee for Test selection again unless he's really needed due to injuries. He's still a decent limited overs bowler and I'd still use him in those forms of the game to spell our main guys. Similar thing with Stuart Clark his time should now be over in Test cricket and should only be called upon if injuries happen. He's never been much chop in limited overs international cricket so no need to keep him on for that.

We've got a pretty good core of Johnson, Siddle, Bollinger & Hilfenhaus coming along so no need to persist with guys who are way past their best and approaching their mid 30's too.

How could you be in a position to trust that his body will hold out for FIVE days

Age and unjury = 6th best Test bowler thesedays
Good career
Stick to limited over games

mal wrote:Age and unjury = 6th best Test bowler thesedays
Good career
Stick to limited over games

agree with most of that but you can add the lucrative ipl

Lee's stock in trade was to bowl at 150 clicks and he is now 33 and can't stay on the park. I said when he broke down last time his test days were over and I've been proven right. I'd love to be able to blame teeball for this but an injured 33 year old 'firebrand' is an unknown species. He's struggling to get through one dayers now let alone tests. Bollywood beckons.

regards,

REB

Sadly Brett Lee was just never in the top class of international bowler. You could never doubt his desire or work ethic, but top batsman found scoring just a little too easy. With more and more blokes bowling over 140KPH he's not as unique as when he first appeared on the scene. Even fully fit he's far from a certain pick.

What I find amazing is the stories he and his management keep bringing up about him having a bowling age of just 28. I suspect they might be trying to convince themselves, but I have never noticed any trend for guys to get major injuries to play longer than guys who don't. If anything, those injuries do the opposite and take time off the end of careers.