A roll of Australia’s greatest Test pacemen would feature Dennis Lillee, Glenn McGrath, Ray Lindwall, Alan Davidson and Fred Spofforth. Slightly below them sit the likes of Craig McDermott, Jeff Thomson, Graham McKenzie, Jason Gillespie, and Brett Lee.
The retirement of Lee from Test cricket was not a great surprise given the wear and tear intrinsic to his trade, but it does provide an opportunity to assess where he rates among Australian fast bowlers.
Lee’s Test average of 30.81 for his 310 wickets across 76 matches does not place him in particularly revered company.
But his strike rate of 53.3 balls per wicket ranks him only a fraction below Lillee and McGrath, while also placing Lee ahead of such luminaries of speed as Curtly Ambrose, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Andy Roberts.
Arriving on the international scene with five wickets on debut against India at the MCG in the 1999 Boxing Day Test, Lee became a part of an Australian side midway through the process of bringing all Test match opponents to heel.
With his blond locks, million dollar grin and speedy approach, Lee was commonly likened to a Ferrari, the luxury item a successful team could afford to use for his shock value alongside that most dependable duo of McGrath and Shane Warne.
Many of Lee’s Test wickets came against opponents with little hope of beating an all-powerful Australian team, their techniques softened up by pressure.
His debut Test was the sixth in a record sequence of 16 consecutive victories under the captaincy of Steve Waugh.
In those early matches Lee was able to exploit the slipstream effect of the rest of the attack, while Waugh delighted in seeing him make opposition players hop around.
Lee’s fallibility as a bowler related to a flat trajectory and straight-forward action that made the ball relatively comfortable to see and hit when a batsman was in good touch, especially once the outswing of his first two or three overs with the new ball had dissipated.
These deficiencies were exploited on more than a few occasions, particularly when Lee was compelled by injury or retirements to lead the attack.
Over time, including a 12-month period as the perpetual 12th man from 2004-05, Lee was able to develop his skills to become a more complete fast bowler.
From the end of the 2005 Ashes series to the start of the 2008 Test tour of India he was at his peak, pouching 128 wickets at 25.23 in 25 matches.
He went to the subcontinent that year as arguably the finest paceman in the world, but a barren tour was compounded by illness and weight loss, beginning the downward spiral that ended in retirement this week.
What is not in dispute about Lee is that he maintained such heights of pace for longer than anyone, in the face of so many injuries.
As his long-time pace partner Gillespie put it: “I don’t think the public would appreciate how much pain he bowled in.”
AUSTRALIA’S LEADING TEST WICKET TAKERS
Player Matches Wickets Avg
Shane Warne 145 708 25.41
Glenn McGrath 124 563 21.64
Dennis Lillee 70 355 23.92
Brett Lee 76 310 30.81
Craig McDermott 71 291 28.63
Jason Gillespie 71 259 26.13
Richie Benaud 63 248 27.03
Garth McKenzie 60 246 29.78
Ray Lindwall 61 228 23.03
Clarrie Grimmett 37 216 24.21
Whiteline
Guest
Jason Gillespie was well and truly cooked by the time Ashes 2005 came along regardless of what Brett Lee was doing. Gillespie had lost his mojo on the tour of New Zealand earlier in 2005 and it was the selectors hanging on to something which was over which lead to his unfortunate demise in England.
M-Rod
Guest
Brett Lee's passion for short and intimadatory bowling to tail enders disqualifies him from cricketing greatness in my opinion.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Brett Lee will be remebered as a thoroughbred fast bowler.Athletic run up and explosive pace,when he was fit. Fast bowlers have generally not been handled well and rested enough. At times the thoroughbred was asked to do the donkey work in a stone quarry and became the proverbail beast of burden. The list is long..Donald,Bond,Srinath,Flintoff,Jones and before them Lillee and Thommo. Fast bowlers often bowl in pain and the force on their foot and back and knees is frightening.Bowlers nowadays play virtually nonstop. I can understand the temptation of only bowling 4 overs a match and pocketing a million for 6 weeks. But only the very best will get that. And to become the best you have to do the time and learn the tricks. It took Steyn more than three seasons before he understood his own potential and the work he had to do. Nobody arrives great. It is the hours bowling and learning that make them great. So if anyone young is thinking they can crack the IPL just because they bowl fast is fooling themselves. Brett Lee has done his time and deserves the rewards that come his way. A very good bowler and a credit to Australia.
Shane OZ
Guest
Lee always had to bowl witht the older ball, as first change when the batsmen were set. His average is flawed, it should be much lower, one of the main reasons is he missed out on all the 'average boosting' tail end wickets that McGrath, Warne would always clean up. On his day - none better. A Terrific batsmen too, better than any fast bowler in the world, except maybe Pollock. And his stats in ODI are simply unbelievable. On top of that a top bloke. Well done Brett Lee for playing Cricket in the spirit of the game, and always with a great smile.
Rickety Knees
Roar Guru
Andrew - another complete mis-read in a test match by Punter.
Rickety Knees
Roar Guru
Sheek, I totally agree with your rankings (my first test was Jan 64). For mine - Lee either bowled yorkers, bouncers or half trackers that were despatched accordingly. His one failing was that when conditions did not suit him he could not revert (swallow his pride) to bowling tightly to build pressure for the bowler at the other end to take advantage of, ala McGrath's combnation with Warne. I believe that his ego got in the way and that is what ultimately relegated him to Tier 4 on the Sheek Great Australian Bowler Richter Scale.
Andrew Sutherland
Roar Guru
Yes, I believe the 'flat trajectory and straight-forward action' were probably the reasons Lee will not be regarded as one of the greats. He did get 5 wickets in a test innings ten times but i never considered him a matchwinner, or more importantly, a match turner. I think at his best Gillespie was a better bowler however Gillespie's inexplicable disintegration in the first innings of the third test of the 2005 ashes , and Ponting's poor feel for the game, undid him. Lee ,bowling inswinging yorkers, knocked over Strauss and then had the cringing wreck Vaughan come out (who had also been out to Lee yorkers in the 1st and 2nd tests) only for Ponting to bring on Gillespie who delivered a long hop that Vaughan belted for four. The sense of relief in Vaughan was palpable. Ponting persisted with Gillespie who ended up with 1/114 off 19 and Vaughan a confidence instilling 166.
Dave1
Roar Rookie
How can you say they are dying out?. Lee palyed longer than most. Lee played 76 tests. Mcgrath is the only Australian pace bowler to play more in 133 years.
The Bush
Roar Guru
I'm sorry but Brett Lee was the most over rated player of the 2000's. Whilst it was very informative to learn that his average was only 25 during that period following the 2005 Ashes's until his decline (which is a testiment to his work ethic and approach to the game), how this guy was chosen over Jason Gillespie is a disgrace... The Australian selectors should hang their heads in shame for the way they threw Jason to the gutter whilst picking little blonde-blue eyed pretty boy Lee at a time when Australian needed real men to lead a bowling attack. Whilst I'm sure there are many things to admire about Brett Lee, his fitness, his speed, maybe even his passion, I'll always remember him as an arrogant show-pony, without the talent to back it up. Bring on Hillfy and Bollinger, a return to the modest, no fuss approach to fast bowling we've been missing...
JohnB
Guest
Like a lot of statistical measures this isn't without flaws, but I think if over a reasonable length career you take 3.5 to 4 wickets per test, you're an at least good test bowler; 4 to 4.5, very good; 4.5 to 5, great; 5 plus, off the charts. That puts Lee in the "very good" category, which looks about right. As to the true speedster dying out - don't know about that. They've always been a pretty rare commodity, and there are a few around at the moment, but it would certainly be a black day if the concept of saving yourself to only bowl really fast in 20/20s catches on.
sheek
Guest
Brett, I guess we're trying to find Lee's place in the pantheon of greats. Which is a very human thing to do! I've been following test cricket since the late 1960s, & despite reaching 300 wickets, I wouldn't consider Lee among the top 9 Aussie pacemen I've seen in that time. He might scrape in at number 10. Here's my top Aussie fast bowlers, in braces of 3; 1st XI: Dennis Lillee(1), Jeff Thomson(3), Glenn McGrath(2). 2nd XI: Craig McDermott(4), Graham McKenzie(5), Bruce Reid(6). 3rd XI: Merv Hughes(9), Jason Gillespie(8), Terry Alderman(7). 4th XI: Brett Lee(10), Geoff Lawson(12), Mitchell Johnson(11). 5th XI: Rodney Hogg(14), Damien Fleming(15), Max Walker(13).
Brett McKay
Guest
I'd be happy to take 600+ international wickets and still be labelled 'average'....
vas
Guest
i don't think brett lee could ever be judged as a truly great fast bowler if he kept having to play bridesmaid to mcgrath, gillespie and kasprowicz at times. however, in his career were great moments. i think lee's lasting legacy will be how he stood to be a universally liked figure in an australian team that didn't always appease the impartial fans. he played the game with vigour and honour. the sad thing is how the days of the true speedster may be dying out. the sheer volume of cricket is forcing no pacemen to pursue the 160km barrier and play Tests. given the T20 cash available, that's becoming the new pursuit. Brett Lee can be proud of the significant contributions he's made. Watching Australian cricket was more enjoyable for his presence. He will be missed from Test cricket...
Spiro Zavos
Expert
I agree with this assessment that Brett Lee was an almost great fast bowler. He never really developed the knack of bowling at an awkward length which made things uncomfortable for the batsman all the time like the truly great fast bowlers. But his athletic run-up to the wicket was one of the great sights of cricket. He always put in 100 per cent and on his day he could be a match-winner, although there are few Tests that he could be described as winning.