Waqar Younis

وقار یونس

Personal information
Full name	Waqar Younis Maitla
Born	(1971-11-16) 16 November 1971 (age 40) Vehari, Punjab, Pakistan
Nickname	Burewala Express, Wiki, The Two W's (with Wasim Akram),[1][2] Sultan of Swing, The Toe crusher[3]
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Batting style	Right hand bat
Bowling style	Right arm fast
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	Pakistan
Test debut (cap 111)	15 November 1989 v India
Last Test	2 January 2003 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 71)	14 October 1989 v West Indies
Last ODI	4 March 2003 v Zimbabwe
ODI shirt no.	99
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2003–2004	Allied Bank Limited
2003	Warwickshire
2001–2003	National Bank of Pakistan
2000–2001	Lahore Blues
1999–2000	REDCO Pakistan Limited
1998–1999	Rawalpindi
1998–1999	Karachi
1997–1998	Glamorgan
1990–1993	Surrey
1988–1989, 1996–1997	United Bank Limited
1987–1988, 1997–1998	Multan
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	87	262	228	411
Runs scored	1010	969	2972	1553
Batting average	10.20	10.30	13.38	10.42
100s/50s	0/0	0/0	0/6	0/0
Top score	45	37	64	45
Balls bowled	16224	12698	39181	19841
Wickets	373	416	956	675
Bowling average	23.56	23.84	22.33	22.36
5 wickets in innings	22	13	63	17
10 wickets in match	5	n/a	14	n/a
Best bowling	7/76	7/36	8/17	7/36
Catches/stumpings	18/–	35/–	58/–	56/–
Source: ESPNCricinfo, 21 April 2012

Waqar Younis Maitla (Punjabi: وقار یونس, born 16 November 1971) is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket and widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time.^[4] As of 2012, he holds the record for the youngest Pakistani Test captain and the third youngest Test captain in history (22 years 15 days).^[5] He played 87 Tests and 262 One Day Internationals (ODIs) matches for Pakistan during his international cricket career from1989 to 2003.^[6]

Younis' trademark was his ability to reverse swing a cricket ball at high speed.^[7] He took 373 Test wickets and 416 One Day International wickets during his career. Together with bowling partner Wasim Akram, he formed one of the subcontinent's most feared bowling attacks.^[8] He is considered to be the best exponent of the swing bowling delivery. Younis has the best strike rate for any bowler with over 350 Test wickets.^[9] He worked as a bowling coach with the national side from 2006 to 2007.^[10] Waqar was appointed as the coach of the Pakistan cricket team on 3 March 2010. ^[11][12] He resigned as Pakistan's Cricket Coach on 19 August 2011 citing personal reasons. ^[13][14]

Early and personal life[link]

Younis was born in Vehari, Punjab in Pakistan. He was educated in Sadiq Public School in Bahawalpur in Pakistan, the Pakistani College (Pakistan Islamia Higher Secondary School) in Sharjah and the Government College in Vehari. He was raised in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, where his father was a contract worker. He returned to Pakistan during his adolescent years and there, he started playing cricket.

He is married to Dr. Faryal Waqar Younis, a Pakistani Australian^[15] with a son Azaan Waqar and a daughter Maira Waqar and now lives in Castle Hill in Australia.^[16] Younis has also worked as a television sports commentator for the Nine Network in Australia and for Ten Sports in the United Arab Emirates.

Playing Career[link]

Waqar began his cricket career in in 1987/88 Pakistan, playing for several First-class cricket clubs. He never played T20I matches for Pakistan.^[6] However he suffered an injury when he had cut and removed his little finger on his left hand,^[17] after he had jumped into a canal. He recovered from this accident and went on to continue his sporting career. He was eventually discovered by former Pakistan captain, Imran Khan and was selected to be part of the national side.^[2]

Domestic[link]

The turning point of his career happened in England, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when he played for Surrey. By taking 113 wickets in 582 overs for Surrey in 1991, at a mere 14.65 apiece, and by carrying on his shoulders an otherwise moderate county attack, he announced himself as one of the finest contemporary bowlers.^[18] There he displayed excellent cricketing performances and attracted attention from the sporting public. He won the English County Championship with Glamorgan in 1997. He 7 wickets for 25 against Lancashire at Liverpool on June 21 1997, which included a hat-trick achieved after narrowly missing a hat-trick earlier in the innings.^[19]

International[link]

Waqar made his International cricket debut for Pakistan against India on 15 November 1989, in the same match that Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar also made his debut. Waqar took 4 wickets in the drawn match including the wickets of Tendulkar and Kapil Dev.^[20] He made an immediate impression with his speed and became known in the cricket media as "Wiki"^[21] or the "Burewala Express".^[21] Waqar along with Wasim Akram opened the bowling attack regularly for Pakistan, becoming a feared and potent attack.^[22] At his peak, he developed into a very quick fast bowler and also became famous for achieving a hat-trick in a One Day International match against New Zealand in 1994.^[22] During the early periods of 2000, he stayed out of the Pakistan team for a brief period allegedly due to suspension and conflicts with bowling partner and captain Akram.^[23][24]

His return to cricket came with him being appointed the captain of Pakistan.^[25] However, he had to deal with allegations of ball-tampering and a number of controversies. The 2003 World Cup was the last straw as it was a tournament to forget for Waqar. In their opening match against Australia, Waqar was removed from the attack after bowling a beamer at Andrew Symonds.^[26] The Pakistanis then crashed out of the group stage after winning only two matches, both against associate member teams. After the tournament he conceded the captaincy and was dropped from international selection.^[27] After a nearly 15-year career, Waqar announced his retirement from cricket altogether in April 2004. ^[8]

Coaching[link]

In March 2006, he was appointed as the bowling coach for Pakistan.^[28] He resigned from this position on 6 January 2007 in protest against the Pakistan Cricket Board decision to retain him only for the Test series against South Africa and not for the subsequent series of five One Day International matches.^[29][30] He was re-appointed as Pakistan's bowling and fielding coach for their tour of Australia in December 2009.^[31] In February 2010, Younis was appointed the head coach of Pakistan after Intikhab Alam was sacked as coach, due to the low-level of performances of the national side during the tour of Australia earlier that year.^[32]

Waqar's first job as coach was to lead an inexperienced Pakistan side missing Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik to the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 as a consolation though Waqar had two top-notch bowlers in Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif at his disposal.^[33][34] He guided the defending champions to the semi-final of the tournament before they were knocked out by Australia courtesy of a superb 60* by Mike Hussey who whacked three sixes in the final over to seal the victory.^[35]

The World Twenty20 was followed with the 2010 Asia Cup in which Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka by a narrow-margin as Pakistan's top order collapsed and it was Shahid Afridi who scored 109 to nearly guide Pakistan to victory.^[36] In the following match Pakistan lost narrowly against India courtesy of a six by Harbhajan Singh from the third ball of the final over.^[37] The following match was a dead rubber between Pakistan and Bangladesh and another Afridi century meant Pakistan scored 385 runs and they comfortably won the match by 139 runs ^[38]

After this a tour of England followed with two Twenty20's against Australia and two Test matches. Pakistan won both Twenty20's comfortably and the first test saw Pakistan defeated by 154 runs. Pakistan rallied in the second test and for the first time in 15 years Pakistan defeated Australia in a Test match. Ironically the previous victory in 1995 was also courtesy of a superb bowling spell by Waqar Younis.^[39]

This tour was followed by a controversial tour against England as Pakistan headed in to the final Test match needing to win it to level the series 2-2 the News of the World broke a story that Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and captain Salman Butt were involved in Spot-fixing.^[40] This saw the three players temporarily suspended^[41] and Pakistan lost by an innings and 225 runs their biggest defeat in history.^[42] Low team-morale meant the next two T20 matches were won comfortably by England. Following an ODI series which Pakistan lost 3-2.^[43]

This was followed by a tour of Abu Dhabi playing against South Africa. Pakistan lost the first Twenty20 match by six-wickets following a batting-collapse which meant that no partnerships were formed. Pakistan also lost the ODI series of five matches by 3-2.^[44] Pakistan won the second one day due to Abdul Razzaq's superb performance scoring 109* off 72 ball.^[45] The test series of two matches with South Africa was drawn. He also stated that now it was the time for Pakistan to rally and prepare for the World Cup.^[46]

Style[link]

Waqar is one of several Pakistani fast bowlers, beginning with Sarfraz Nawaz, who have been successful at bowling reverse swing.^[7][47] In partnership with Akram, Younis opened the Pakistan bowling attack in the 1990s. Cricket critics and scholars attribute Younis and Akram to be one of the most effective fast bowling partnerships in cricket, due to their ability to swing the ball at high speed. The ability to reverse swing and his speed led to him becoming one of the most talented bowlers in modern cricket.^[22][2]

Waqar explained his ability to reverse swing by the manipulation of an old ball; with one side shiny, one side rough, the ball would move in the opposite direction to conventional swing.^[7] This led to Waqar having the ability to bowl inswingers and outswingers in the cricket pitch and in effect both Waqar and Akram became successful in taking wickets by this variation of swing bowling.^[47][48][49] His fastest delivery in cricket was 153 km/h or 95.1 mph, a delivery he bowled against South Africa in 1993.^[50][51] He was also effective in the use of bouncers or short pitch deliveries; Waqar's bowling against South Africa in Sheikhupura in Pakistan, is remembered for his effective use of the short pitched delivery.

Following Pakistan's victory during the Test match series versus England in 1992, the English media were suspicious of the reverse swing delivery. It was relatively unknown to the cricketing world during that period and this led to accusations of foul play by critics, however cricket officials found no evidence of foul play and the skill of the reverse swing delivery has been accepted in cricket.^{[52][53][54][55]}

Sri Lanka fast bowler, Lasith Malinga, who became the first bowler in World Cup history to take two hat-tricks, has said that he learnt to bowl his deadly yorkers by watching Pakistan's legendary pair of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.^[56][57][58] No doubt over the years several bowlers have learned and mastered the skill of reverse swing but there are still some techniques which haven't have been explored e.g. banana swing. Title of Banana swing bowler was given to Waqar Younis because of his unique technique of swinging the ball in the air at very high speed before hitting the ground. In most of his hat tricks he has delivered banana swing balls which were unplayable.^[54]

Despite his qualities as a fast bowler, he was expensive at times and sometimes lacked the consistency of bowlers such as West Indian fast bowler Curtly Ambrose and Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath. This may be partly due to the mentality of his former captain, Imran Khan, who prioritised aggression and speed.^[2]

Fan following[link]

Considered as one of the finest bowlers in cricket, Waqar Younis has been a legend to many, both nationally and internationally, throughout his cricket career.

The world's fastest sprinter and runner Usain Bolt, who is from Jamaica (in the West Indies), once famously replied while being asked about who were his heroes when he was a child: "When I was really small I loved the Pakistan cricket team. Waqar Younis was one of the greatest bowlers ever, and I was a bowler so I really enjoyed watching him. I was a big Pakistan fan until I got older, when I noticed that I should actually support my home team." When asked what if there was a match between Pakistan and Windies, Bolt remarked "I would still have supported Pakistan, that’s what I’m saying – when I was little, it was all about Pakistan."^[59]

Award and records[link]

Waqar was awarded Wisden Cricketers of the Year^[60][18] in 1992 for his sporting achievements. He is also the only bowler to have taken 5 wickets in an innings in 3 consecutive One Day International matches. In terms of deliveries bowled, he has taken the fastest 50, 300, 350 and 400 wickets in One Day International matches and the fastest 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 wickets in Test matches.

Although primarily a fast bowler, Waqar scored 1010 Test match runs during his career. As of September 2005, he was the only non-batsman to achieve a thousand runs without scoring a fifty.^[61][62] Waqar holds the record for the best strike rate for any bowler with over 350 Test wickets.^[9]

Five wickets in an innings[link]

Waqar Younis has taken five or more wickets in an innings on 22 occasions in Test cricket, although never against Australia. ^[63] In One Day International matches, he has taken the most number of five-wicket hauls (on 13 occasions).^[64]

Cricket controversies[link]

In July 2000 Waqar became the first cricketer to be banned for ball tampering and was fined 50% of his match fee.^[65]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Player profile: Waqar Younis from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Waqar Younis from CricketArchive
• Player Profile: Waqar Younis from Yahoo! Cricket

v t e Pakistan squad – 1996 Cricket World Cup 1 Wasim Akram (c) 2 Aamer Sohail (Vice-captain) 3 Aaqib Javed 4 Ata-ur-Rehman 5 Ijaz Ahmed 6 Inzamam-ul-Haq 7 Javed Miandad 8 Mushtaq Ahmed 9 Rameez Raja 10 Rashid Latif (wk) 11 Saeed Anwar 12 Saleem Malik 13 Saqlain Mushtaq 14 Waqar Younis

v t e Pakistan squad – 1999 Cricket World Cup Runners-up 1 Wasim Akram (c) 2 Moin Khan (wk) 3 Saleem Malik 4 Ijaz Ahmed 5 Waqar Younis 6 Saeed Anwar 7 Mushtaq Ahmed 8 Inzamam-ul-Haq 9 Saqlain Mushtaq 10 Shahid Afridi 11 Azhar Mahmood 12 Abdul Razzaq 13 Yousuf Youhana 14 Shoaib Akhtar 15 Wajahatullah Wasti Coach: Mushtaq Mohammad

v t e Pakistan squad – 2003 Cricket World Cup 1 Waqar Younis (c) 2 Abdul Razzaq 3 Azhar Mahmood 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq 5 Mohammad Sami 6 Rashid Latif (wk) 7 Saeed Anwar 8 Saleem Elahi 9 Saqlain Mushtaq 10 Shahid Afridi 11 Shoaib Akhtar 12 Taufeeq Umar 13 Wasim Akram 14 Younis Khan 15 Yousuf Youhana Coach: Richard Pybus

v t e Pakistan squad – 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Semi-Finalists 1 Shahid Afridi (c) 2 Abdul Razzaq 3 Abdur Rehman 4 Fawad Alam 5 Hammad Azam 6 Kamran Akmal (wk) 7 Khalid Latif 8 Misbah-ul-Haq 9 Mohammad Amir 10 Mohammad Asif 11 Mohammad Hafeez 12 Mohammad Sami 13 Saeed Ajmal 14 Salman Butt 15 Umar Akmal Coach: Waqar Younis Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat were named in the original squad but injuries led to them being withdrawn. Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Sami were sent as their replacements.

v t e Pakistan squad – 2011 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists 8 Mohammad Hafeez 10 Shahid Afridi (c) 12 Abdul Razzaq 14 Shoaib Akhtar 19 Ahmed Shehzad 22 Misbah-ul-Haq 23 Kamran Akmal (wk) 36 Abdur Rehman 47 Wahab Riaz 50 Saeed Ajmal 55 Umar Gul 75 Younus Khan 81 Asad Shafiq 96 Umar Akmal 99 Junaid Khan Coach: Waqar Younis Sohail Tanvir was named in the original squad but injuries led to him being withdrawn. Junaid Khan was sent as his replacement

Brett Lee

Personal information
Born	(1976-11-08) 8 November 1976 (age 35) Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Nickname	Bing, Binga, The Speedster.
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm fast
Role	Bowler
Relations	S Lee (brother)
International information
National side	Australia
Test debut (cap 383)	26 December 1999 v India
Last Test	26 December 2008 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 140)	9 January 2000 v Pakistan
Last ODI	19 February 2012 v India
ODI shirt no.	58
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1995 –	New South Wales
2011	Wellington
2011–	Sydney Sixers
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	76	216	116	256
Runs scored	1,451	1,088	2,120	1,263
Batting average	20.15	17.00	18.59	16.40
100s/50s	0/5	0/3	0/8	0/3
Top score	64	59	97	59
Balls bowled	16,531	10,979	24,193	13,229
Wickets	310	374	487	431
Bowling average	30.81	23.25	28.22	23.98
5 wickets in innings	10	9	20	10
10 wickets in match	0	n/a	2	n/a
Best bowling	5/30	5/22	7/114	5/22
Catches/stumpings	23/–	53/–	35/–	61/–
Source: Cricinfo, 23 March 2012

Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976) is an Australian cricketer.

After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket. In each of his first two years, he averaged less than 20 with the ball, but since then has mostly achieved figures in the early 30s.^[1]

He is an athletic fielder and useful lower-order batsman, with a batting average exceeding 20 in Test cricket. Together with Mike Hussey, he has held the record for highest 7th wicket partnership for Australia in ODIs since 2005–06 with 123.^[2]

Lee is known by his nickname 'Binga', which refers to 'Bing Lee', a chain of electronics stores in New South Wales.

Brett Lee also plays for Kolkata Knight Riders,who won the IPL season five against Chennai Super Kings.^[3]

Style[link]

Lee is known for his pace and regularly clocks 150 km/h and above. He ranks behind only Pakistani bowler Shoaib Akhtar (161.3 km/h, 100.2 mph) as the fastest bowler in contemporary cricket during most of the 2000s.^[4] The strain of consistently bowling at 150 km/h caused a string of stress fractures and recurring injuries and forced him to alter his strategy, which he has done effectively.^[5] Rather than relying on pace alone, he uses a wide array of deliveries aimed at wearing down the batsman.

Early in his career, Lee was reported for a suspected illegal bowling action, but was cleared,^[6] 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.^[7][8]

Batting[link]

Lee is also a competent lower-order batsman. His aggressive style and his strong physique often yields many sixes, including one six which flew out of the Gabba into the practice nets during a Test match against the West Indies in 2005, billed as the biggest six ever hit at that ground.^{[citation needed]}

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 bowler and captain Andrew Flintoff went over to console Lee, a moment which came to symbolise a hotly contest series.^[9]

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.

Early career[link]

At age 16, Lee began playing first grade cricket for Campbelltown, where he managed to claim the wickets of a few New South Wales cricketers, and Mosman,^[10] where at one point, he shared the new ball with Shoaib Akhtar and briefly played alongside England batsman Andrew Strauss.^[11][12]

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.^[13] His contemporaries included fellow internationals Jason Gillespie and Mike Hussey.^[14]

Prior to making his first-class debut, Lee played for Mosman and played in the final of the 1996-97 Sydney Grade Cricket competition.^[15]

Domestic career[link]

Lee has played domestic cricket for his home state team, the New South Wales Blues, since 1997. He was first named in the squad as the twelfth man for the 14–16 November match against Queensland in the 1997-98 Sheffield Shield.^[16] 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.^[17] It would be his only appearance in the Sheffield Shield for the rest of the season.^[18] He ended a memorable month by taking a 5-wicket haul in the Sydney grade Limited-Overs Cup final against Bankstown on 30 November.^[19]

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.^[20] He started the 1999-2000 season by claiming 8 wickets in his first two matches. Such strong performances culminated in his Test debut in December 1999 and he finished the season as the Blues' second-highest wicket taker in the Pura Cup, 24 wickets in 5 matches.^[21]

In 2009 he battled back from injury and was a key player in the Blues' success during the Champions League Twenty20. He was named Man of the Match in the final^[22] and also won the Man of the Series award.^[23]

International career[link]

One month after making his first class debut, Lee was chosen to represent the Australian A team on a tour to South Africa. He claimed two wickets but in that very match, stress fractures in his back from the previous injury had re-opened and Lee was in a back brace for over three months.

Test career[link]

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.^[24] Lee took thirteen 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.^[25] 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.^[26] 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 broke his right elbow and was sidelined until May 2001.^{[citation needed]}

Return from injury[link]

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.

Lee only took five wickets in a match on three occasions between the New Zealand series and the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Lee came under pressure for his position after taking only five wickets at 46.50 in the three-Test series against Pakistan in 2002. Andy Bichel, who was filling for the injured Jason Gillespie, took eight wickets at 13.25. With the other frontline bowlers all taking wickets at less than 13,^[27] Lee was dropped when Gillespie returned for the first two Tests during the 2002–03 Ashes series. He returned for the Perth Test, after claiming a five wicket haul in a Pura Cup match against Queensland for New South Wales. He took thirteen wickets at 41.23 in three matches, compared to Bichel's ten at 35.1.^[28] After the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Lee took 17 wickets at 28.88 in four Tests against the West Indies. It was the first series in two years where he averaged under 30, and only the second in that period where had averaged under 40.

After a mid year break, he participated in a Two Test series against Bangladesh in northern Australia. He took six wickets at 31.66, and was Australia's most expensive bowler, with the other specialist bowlers averaging 15.55 against the lowest ranked team in Test cricket. He followed this with six wickets at 37 in a comfortable 2–0 Test series against Zimbabwe, in which the other specialist bowlers averaged 23.15.^[29]

Against the Indian batting lineup in the 2003–04 home series, which ended in a 1–1 draw for Australia, Lee was out of the first two Tests recovering from a torn abdominal muscle, an injury which he sustained during the Zimbabwe series.^[30]

Loss of Test position[link]

Lee took eight wickets in over 100 overs in the final two Tests against India, at an average of 59.50. This Test included a double century to Sachin Tendulkar in the Indians' first innings of 7/705 where Sachin and V.V.S. Laxman freely attacked Lee and other bowlers in the final Test in Sydney. He ended the series with the worst average and economy rate of Australia's front line bowlers.^[31]

He was subsequently replaced by fellow fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz in 2004 during the tour of Sri Lanka when Lee's ankle injury worsened, forcing him to return home to have surgery. This injury would force Lee out of the game for 4½ months to ensure his full recovery. Lee's form in the Test arena had been ineffective, and from July 2001 to January 2004, he had a Test bowling average of 38.42,^[32] compared to an average of 16.07 in his earlier career.

Lee was unable to reclaim his position for eighteen months, when Kasprowicz took 47 wickets at 23.74 in thirteen Tests, taking his wickets at a much lower cost than Lee had done in the previous three years. This included 17 wickets at 26.82 on the spin friendly pitches of the Indian subcontinent, helping Australia to its first whitewash in Sri Lanka, and its first series win in India for 35 years.^[33]

Test return[link]

Brett Lee bowling against South Africa at the WACA in 2005

After 18 months on the sidelines, Lee returned to the Test team in the 2005 Ashes series. With Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie both struggling for form, Lee returned to take the new ball with Glenn McGrath. He averaged 40 with the ball for the series, which some commentators have put down to having to bowl longer spells than he was accustomed to at the time^{[citation needed]}, but was retained, in part because of his defiant batting^{[citation needed]} which yielded runs at an average of 26.33. During the Ashes, he claimed his 150th test wicket off Andrew Strauss with a straight yorker on Day 1 of the third test.

Part of Lee's difficulty at Test level is that the benefits of his high speed, which give the batsmen less reaction time, also results in more erratic bowling. In recent times he has tried to concentrate solely on accuracy by reducing speed. During the first Test against the West Indies in late 2005 at the Gabba, after declaring that he would sacrifice pace and focus on 'line and length',^[34] Lee reverted to his initial style of bowling, based on the advice of his captain Ricky Ponting after his new method of bowling failed in the first innings.^[35] This saw him take 5/30 his fifth five-wicket haul in Tests, his first in four years.

In the 2005-06 Australian cricket season, Lee's Test figures improved from his 2001–04 difficulties, with a season bowling average of 25.74.

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 and of the Australian bowlers, was second only to Shane Warne's 14 wickets in the series. Three Australian players including Lee, who was reprimanded in the Third Test in Sydney for showing dissent towards umpire Aleem Dar.^[36]

With the unavailability of Glenn McGrath for the tour of South Africa in March–April 2006, Lee became the spearhead of the Australian bowling lineup.^[37] In the second Test of that series, at Durban, Lee captured his 200th Test wicket in his 51st match and also captured figures of 5 for 69, on the back of 49 Test wickets in 2005.^[38] He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. He was unable to maintain his performance when Australia visited Bangladesh for a two Test series, taking two wickets at 93, coming bottom of Australia's bowling averages.^[39]

In the first three tests of the 2006–07 Ashes series, he only took eight wickets and was fined for excessive appealing in the Third Test in Adelaide when a LBW decision was not in his favour.^[36] However during the week period between the Adelaide and Melbourne tests, he worked with Troy Cooley, Australia's bowling coach, to adjust his run up and came back in the 4th and final tests with more wickets. He finished the series 20 wickets, with his best bowling figures being 4 for 47 at an average of 33.20, including 6 in the final test. His tally was only bettered by his teammates Stuart Clark, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath as the quartet claimed more wickets than the entire England bowling attack combined.^[40]

Post McGrath-Warne era[link]

Following the retirements of Warne and McGrath, Lee rose to the challenge and was awarded the Man of the Series in the inaugural Warne-Muralidaran Trophy, a two-Test series against Sri Lanka in late-2007. In his first series as bowling spearhead reaped 16 wickets at an average of 17.5. This was achieved by bowling 5 km/h slower to improve accuracy. In the following series Lee took 24 wickets at 22.58 in four Tests against India. In this series he overtook Jason Gillespie to become Australia's 5th highest wicket taker. His consistent efforts saw him rewarded with the Man of the Series Award for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 2007–08. He capped off the season by winning the Allan Border Medal, the award given to the player adjudged Australia's best international cricketer of the past year.

Lee seemed underdone in the 2008 Australian tour of the West Indies, taking only 5 wickets in the first Test match, during which he seemed exhausted. He returned to productivity, taking eight wickets in the Second test, including a 5 wicket haul, and 6 in the Third Test.

During the Indian tour, Lee picked up a stomach virus and was unable to find his best form throughout the series. Lee showed glimpses of his best form^{[citation needed]} when the team returned to Australia for a two test series with New Zealand, but generally seemed down on pace. However, he struggled in the two tests he played of the series with South Africa, which Australia lost 2–1, likely due to a niggling ankle injury and then a stress fracture he developed during the series (both in his left foot). The fracture broke completely during the second innings of the Boxing Day Test-match and he was forced to return home for surgery.

By the time he returned to the Australian team for the Ashes in 2009, his position as spearhead had been usurped by the left armer Mitchell Johnson. Additionally, the arrival of bowlers like Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger ensured that Lee had to fight for a position in the team. However, he took six wickets in the first innings against the England Lions team in a practice match leading up to the Ashes. Lee was the only bowler to get reverse swing in this match and appeared to be in line for selection for the First Test at Cardiff. However, he picked up a left side strain and a sore rib in this match and he was ruled out of the first three Tests. He was then overlooked for a recall and never played test cricket again, announcing his retirement from test cricket at the beginning of 2010.

Retirement[link]

Lee had been considering retiring from Test cricket for some time since 2008 due to the physical strain. In February 2010, he announced his retirement from Test cricket after consulting friend and England rival Andrew Flintoff, stating that bowling "at 150km/h for five days is very hard on the body".^[9][41] He had been out with a string of injuries and had not played a Test since December 2008. He ended his Test career with 310 wickets in 76 tests, the fourth highest total behind Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee.

One-day International career[link]

Lee bowling against Pakistan at Lord's, 2004-09-04

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^[42] 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.^[43]

2003 World Cup[link]

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 mark twice; his delivery to Marvan Atapattu in the semi-final of the reached 160.1 km/h (99.5 mph)^[44] and hit 160.6 km/h in his first over against England in the group stage.^[45]

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.^[46] 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.^[47]

Comeback[link]

After having to return home due to injury during the 2007 World Cup, Lee was part of the successful 2009 ICC Champions Trophy squad and was level on 6 wickets with teammates Peter Siddle and Shane Watson, the highest total for the Australian team. Injuries sustained in test matches forced him out until 2011, having not played for Australia for almost two years. He played the two T20s at the MCG and the Adelaide Oval against England. In the subsequent ODI series, his return was more successful. He finished as the leading wicket-taker for the series with 11 scalps at 24.00, his series best figures of 3/27 coming in the third match at the SCG. His pace was consistently around the mid 140s km/h and on occasion he once again managed to break the 150 km/h mark.^{[citation needed]}.

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, the highest of all the bowlers in the team. Of the 13 wickets, 4 came in the match against Pakistan but it was not enough as Australia lost the match and eventually crashed out at the semifinals to rivals India.

Against the West Indies in March 2012 he hit his highest score, 59 before getting caught off a ball by Kemar Roach.

Twenty20[link]

Lee made his Twenty20 and T20 International debut on 15 February 2005 against New Zealand in the first ever T20 international match.^[48] 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.^[49]

Awards[link]

• 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^[50]
• 2006-07 DLF Cup Player of the Tournament
• 2006 ICC Awards - ODI Team of the Year
• Australia's Greatest ODI XI^[51]
• 2007 Warne-Muralitharan Trophy Player of the Series
• 2007-08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Player of the Series
• 2008 McGilvray Medal^[52][53]
• 2008 Australian Test Player of the Year^[54]
• 2008 Allan Border Medal^[54][55]
• 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[link]

Tests[link]

• 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 Test 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[link]

ODI Debut: vs Pakistan, Gabba, Brisbane, 1999–00

• His best ODI bowling figures of five for 22 came against South Africa, Melbourne
• Lee's best ODI batting score of 59 was made against WEST INDIES CRICKET TEAM, WEST INDIES; 2012, Gabba, 2005–06
• Lee's 100th ODI wicket was Andrew Caddick, against England at the M.C.G. in 2003
• Lee's 200th wicket was Marcus Trescothick, against England at Lord's in 2005
• Lee's 300th wicket was Darren Sammy, against West Indies at St George's in 2008
• Lee's 350th wicket was Nuwan Kulasekara, against Sri Lanka at Kandy in 2011 thus 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 ^[56]

Other[link]

• Lee was the first player in Twenty20 International cricket to take a hat-trick.^[57]
• Soon after Lee was selected for Australia, a racing greyhound was named after him and was regarded as one of the best greyhounds in Australian history after winning 31 of 39 races and breaking six track records before its death in August 2010 ^[58]

Personal life[link]

Lee is the second of three sons born to Bob, a metallurgist, and Helen (née Buxton), a piano teacher.^[14] 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.^{[citation needed]} 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".^[59] As a child he idolised Allan Donald and Dennis Lillee, the latter of whom would become a mentor to him as a teenager.^[14]

Lee has been known by his nickname 'Bing', after the chain of electronics store Bing Lee, since his high school days.^[14] 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).^[60]

Lee married Elizabeth Kemp in June 2006. They have a son named Preston Charles, born 16 November 2006. However, after two years of marriage, on 21 August 2008, Lee confirmed his separation from Kemp.^[61] They divorced in 2009. At the time of the split, media speculation cited 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 Preston given as the reason for the marriage breakdown.^[62]

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.^[63]

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.^[64] In 2008, he filmed scenes for his first Bollywood movie Victory.^[65][66]