Not so lethal Lee

He is a lion-hearted competitor who’s endeavour can never be questioned but Brett Lee’s 300th test scalp has been met with some interesting press.

He has been lauded for the most part. The popular tag line to his achievement has been that he now sits fourth on the list of Australia’s all-time wicket-takers, which apparently says enough. But what does it say?

Lee is an icon of Australian cricket. His looks, his personality, his boyish charm, and unwavering spirit have made him one of cricket’s pin up stars.

300 wickets came as an inevitability. Reward for 10 years of service and justice for a great fast bowler. There are issues with this. Statistical anomalies that are not meant to detract from an outstanding achievement but one’s that nonetheless exist and are worth examination.

There was genuine shock from commentators that Brett Lee’s best innings figures were merely 5/30. In fact he is the only bowler of the 23 in Test history to have claimed 300 scalps, not to have taken seven wickets in an innings let alone six.

Until his dismissal of Iain O’Brien in the second innings in Adelaide, his fifth for the day, Lee was the only one of the 23 without 10 five wicket hauls.

He and Bob Willis are the only two in the 300 club without match figures of 10 or better. Lee and Harbhajan Singh are the only members to average in excess of 30; however Dan Vettori’s imminent induction may bolster that category.

Three of the 300’s concede more than 3 an over in their five-day job. Lee is clearly the most expensive of that express crew that also features Waqar Younis and Makhaya Ntini.

Granted statistics can be construed in any manner to suit any means but such large number key indicators suggest Lee is probably at the lower end of the 300 club in terms of quality. This is not to diminish an outstanding achievement from a man who has battled hard for his plaudits.

Battles which include a crippling back injury, elbow and ankle surgeries, 18 months in the test wilderness and plenty of doubters.

He richly deserved his Allan Border medal from earlier this year. His bowling in Australia last summer suggested he was the man to succeed Glenn McGrath as the spearhead of the world’s most feared attack.

A feature of his success last summer was his consistency, something he has wrestled with throughout his career.

Damien Fleming spoke throughout this recent series that Lee’s stock ball must be hostile. It was last summer. It was hostile but he made batsman play consistently.

Throughout his career he has been betwixt and between in terms of finding that happy medium between straining every sinew for express pace and throttling back for a consistency that matched the miserly nature of an attack that featured three scrooges in McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne.

He revealed on more than one occasion that he did not know his true role. Last summer he found his niche, and the absence of McGrath became a non-factor whilst the search for the “next Warne” became the primary focus.

But Lee has since struggled. One cannot underestimate the impact of his physical ailments and personal demons but his tour of India was ordinary.

It was perfectly clear why had not been chosen for a test there previously. The quicker one bowls on India’s sandpaper surfaces the easier it is for those facing, unless you can consistently shape it both ways like Ishant Sharma could.

He has returned to form in Adelaide. Or so everyone believes. He took four in the first innings. But they all came on the second day. On day one he was wayward, bowling both sides to the Kiwi openers. He claimed McCullum with a clever outswinging slower ball early on day two but then rattled through the NZ tail which hardly know which end of the bat to hold.

The second innings he was hostile but again inaccurate. Stuart Clark’s pressure from the other end forced the Black Caps to flay at anything loose from Lee and their execution was clearly lacking. Jamie How’s dismissal was an exemplary delivery but Lee was gifted the other four. He struck McCullum twice in a quick second spell but the talented ‘keeper slaughtered him thereafter.

At 32, Lee claimed in a recent article with Cricinfo that he can get faster and faster.

"As the years go on usually the pace comes down slightly. But as each year has gone on I've got faster and faster. I know that will stop at some stage. I train on the principle of an Olympic sprinter. Most sprinters don't reach their peak till their mid-30s. If they can do it, with the right training and the structure we have here, with the fitness trainer and the physio, and I can get my body in the right shape, there's no reason why I can't get quicker. I want to bowl faster and faster." Lee said to Peter English.

Sadly for Lee, the last four men to break the 100 metres World record, legitimately, did it aged 22 (Usain Bolt), 24 (Asafa Powell), 25 (Maurice Greene), and 29 (Donovan Bailey).

32 was the age that saw the regression of Jason Gillespie, and every fast-bowler has had to adjust once wear and tear kicks in.

As present he’s fit and firing but does that mean he can bowl the same as he did when he exploded onto the scene? His best period in test cricket came when he used his head more than in heart. He showed his true value. But how valuable is he now?

The true measure of a champion comes in his absence. McGrath was absent from Australia’s only two losses during the 2005 Ashes series. Warne’s absence is currently a lasting legacy. Lee’s 18 month hiatus from Test cricket saw Australia achieve an unprecedented whitewash in Sri Lanka, a historic win in India, and series thumping’s of New Zealand twice and Pakistan once. Did anyone miss him during Australia’s frightfully dominant march through the 2007 World Cup?

Lee is a superstar. He is a lion-heated hero of Australian cricket.

Is he a champion cricketer? Now is the time, more than ever, for him to show his worth.