Last of a golden generation of Australian bowlers retires

Sports Journalist

Saturday 14 July 2012

At his best, Brett Lee was one of the most dangerous bowlers in the world; he terrorised opponents with the most lethal weapon in the paceman's armoury; raw speed.

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Neil Drysdale

His fastest delivery was recorded at 99.9mph.

Yet, the sad fact about Lee, who announced his retirement from international cricket yesterday, is that he has been edging towards this moment for the last three years at least. At 35, the toll of several injuries reached the stage where he was only effective in short spells and, even there, his potency had diminished; he was a pale shadow of his former self when England trounced Australia in the recent ODI series.

"You get to the point in life, where you say enough is enough," said Lee, who made a landmark Test debut against India in 1999, when he took five for 47. That spell marked the arrival of another frontline bowler to join the golden generation of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Jason Gillespie, and for the next five years, the blonde bombshell wreaked havoc against most rivals, either through his devastating yorker or in the short-pitched blitzkrieg of hostility which can unnerve the bravest of batsmen.In some respects, Lee had the edge over McGrath; he was a much better batsman and, when pitches offered succour to the sport's genuine merchants of menace, he bewitched and bewildered Test foes to such an extent that he quickly raced to 200 wickets and it seemed only a matter of when, not if he eventually surpassed McGrath. Yet, as the seasons passed, and Ricky Ponting presided over the disintegration of the once-unstoppable Waugh machine, Lee's powers waned, his body began to suffer from the impact which his slingy action had on his physique, and he slipped out of the top tier of bowlers. In the end, he amassed 310 Test wickets, 380 scalps in ODIs – one short of McGrath's tally – but it was surely significant that Lee's gradual demise coincided with the deterioration of his country's reputation on the Test stage. The sober analysis has to be that he was an integral part of his country's long period of supremacy, yet lacked McGrath's consistency and ability to nag away at opponents on unreceptive surfaces. At his prime, he could be psychologically intimidating without having to resort to sledging; the quiet, slightly mad-eyed stare worked better than any amount of verbal invective. But, once McGrath and Warne retired, Lee's statistics and performances subsided accordingly. He was the master of ripping through opponents in sharp bursts, but was not the ideal character to deliver 25 overs a day on a flat deck in Sydney. In that light, his decision to bow out appears fully justified by circumstances. Perhaps the abiding memory of Lee will be the sight of him, on his haunches in distress, after he so nearly propelled Australia to an improbable victory during the second Test in England in 2005. At the death, with his side only requiring three more runs, Lee's pain was understandable and the fashion in which he was embraced by Andrew Flintoff at that moment has subsequently become the stuff of legend. "My ribs were black and blue. I had a busted arm. He had tried to kill me," said Lee in the aftermath of defeat. "But whoever won, we were going to end up in the changing room talking about the game. We were mates, That's Test cricket."As legacies go, it is not a bad one. Brett Lee was a credit to his nation and his pursuit. Yet his retirement simply heightens the feeling that Australia are destined for Ashes ignominy in 2013.

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Last of a golden generation of Australian bowlers retires

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