The Aussie fast bowler Brett Lee has announced his retirement from all formats of cricket in Sydney a day back. It is certain that the cricketer may take up any other cricket-related job in the near future. Brett was actively playing T20s since his retirement from tests and ODIs. He was one of the most prominent faces in both IPL (Indian Premiere League) and BBL (Big Bash League) in recent times. The glorious career of this New South Wales cricketer puts him amongst the most successful Aussie bowlers of all time.
Brett Lee retires from cricket
Brett Lee was successful in taming the famous batsmen in the early days of his career. In the initial days he kept on bowling at a speed of more than 160 kmph. He has often troubled some of the reputed cricketers, including Jacque Kallis, Saurav Ganguly, Brendon Mccullum, T Dilshan and many others with his fiery bowling spell.
Brett was on the top of his form during the ICC World Cup 2003 and finished the tournament with 22 wickets at an exemplary bowling average of 18 runs per wicket. He also achieved a rare feat of One-day hat-trick in the tournament against Kenya and became the first Aussie bowler to do so in the Cricket World Cup. Overall, he played a key role and helped Australia win the ICC World Cup 2003.
The 38-year-old cricketer is considered as one of the fastest bowlers in the history of cricket. He has successfully bowled at a speed of around 150 Kmph, most of the time. Only Shoaib Akhatar and Shaun Tait bowled at a relatively higher speed than Brett.
A series of injuries has completely shaken the indomitable spirit of the jovial cricketer. In the early 2010 the bowler realized that he could not bowl constantly at a high speed for five consecutive days in test matches hence he decided to hang his boots in the same year. Brett has taken a total of 310 wickets in 76 tests. He made his Test debut against India in the year 1999 and played his last test against South Africa in 2008.
In 2012 Brett announced that he will not play ODI matches anymore and completely focused on T20 matches from then onwards. He played 221 ODIs and took 380 wickets and smashed 3 fifties in his 12-year long one-day career since his debut against Pakistan in 2000. Brett Lee played his last ODI against England on 7th July 2012. Brett Less is the second highest wicket taker from the Australian team after Glenn McGrath.
The two-decade long era of Brett Lee has been a pleasant one and off course it ended on a happy note. The bowler said to the Aussie media that he enjoyed and lived every single moment of cricket throughout his career. He was ranked number one bowler in ODIs in 2006 and also received the prestigious Wisden Cricketer of the Year award in the same year. Fans will definitely miss his charming smile and fiery bowling.
Tags: Australia, Big Bash League, Brett Lee, Cricket, Fast Bowler, Indian Premiere League
