James McKeown
Brett Lee Retires, Could Have Seen That Coming. Or Could We?
February 26th 2010 01:34
Brett Lee, Australia's lightening fast opening bowler has pulled stumps on his International Test Career after another injury has caused him to miss 10 months of cricket.
This was in some ways inevitable, the amount of work he would have to do, to get back to match fitness and to the pace he was bowling before injury in England and then two months later in India cut short his Test career. As well having to compete for a spot in the Australian team after his replacements have performed so well that justifying dropping them would be as hard as justifying in invasion of Poland.
However, had you said that Australia's premier fast bowler, having taken over 300 Test wickets, would retire from the longest form of the game and focus on the shorter forms, you'd have been looked upon as if you had three heads. The fact is that many thought that One Day Internationals and Twenty20 cricket would be the death of bowling. But instead of trying to keep to the form of the game that people say would better suit bowlers he has gone the other way.
People want short, sharp, entertaining cricket which usually a lot of big hitting and plenty of sixes, so for Brett Lee to just be playing in these two forms something has to have changed. Hasn't it?
Well, when people first thought that this crazy form of the game would mean less people would be inclined to take up bowling they didn't think of one thing, less is sometimes more. With less wickets falling people become more excited when they do fall, and when you have one the fastest and most accurate bowlers playing you are guaranteed excitement.
Although his draw card is not the only factor for him ending his test career. he can still win matches for a team. His efforts in India for the Champions Trophy Twenty20 almost single-handedly won the final for New South Wales and ensured a massive pay cheque. Australia, despite its dominance in previous years in one Day Internationals and Test matches, are still struggling getting to grips with Twenty20 cricket and have failed to impress in the shortest form of the game. So keen to impress their dominance across all forms of cricket Australia would be foolish to overlook a fit and healthy Brett Lee.
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