equatorIf I was a fast bowler I’d like to think I’d be like Shaun Tait or Shoaib Ahktar, erratic, a little lazy, far from stable, and only good on certain days.
Brett Lee chose a different path. He chose to try really hard, be consistent and stay humble.
There are few other proper quick bowlers who could ever be called earnest in the way Brett can. The man was fast, neat, sweaty desperation.
I can’t say Lee was ever one of my favourite cricketers, I can’t say he was an all time great of the game, but I can say the boy put in.
He put in so much he ended up arguing with Ponting, bowling beamers and breaking his body.
Perhaps I wanted him to bowl different at times, perhaps I thought he had a great ride from the selectors, but I could never doubt his desperation.
You could see his body straining for extra effort, you could see it with his batting, you could see it occasionally with the scary neck veins he had.
It wouldn’t be fair to call him a great of the game, but he could certainly play.
Most of my favourite moments from his career are from the 05 Ashes. His bowling wasn’t quite good enough, but the guy would just keep trying. His batting was almost the difference at times. It was the fact his bowling wasn’t great that made him stand out more. England kept after him, and he wouldn’t sit down. When his bowling couldn’t give him happiness, he fought like a bastard dog with the bat.
Then there was that photo.
You have all seen it, him and Freddie.
To me that photo is Brett Lee. The man wanted to be the best for his country, but in the end had to settle with just being pretty good. Few photos could explain a sport better than that one does for cricket.
If Lee gave us nothing more than that photo, he gave us enough. And he did give us more.
Thanks for the sweat.
Loading ...
it’s official… JRod’s back.
bye bye Writer’s Block!
This post is like the chill out area at a big dance party. All the loud, shouting and loaded people are in the Sachin Rules room. The mellow, slightly sad people are here in the Brett Seemed Rather Nice room.
What a great post.
As a Pom I wasn’t that keen on Brett Lee, until the 2005 Ashes when I completely changed my opinion of him. Totally agree about that photo, too.
Gutted I won’t see him playing in The Ashes in December.
SarahCanterbury´s last blog ..Caption Competition (11)
Nail on the head. It’s nice to see a tribute with some balance rather than wheeling out the usual “he was one of the greats, he’ll be missed.”
He’ll be missed because, in this age of over pampered prima donna sports men and women Brett Lee gave his all at whatever cost. Top man. Top post.
I think he’s set a very high standard for the Tait mould bowlers now, arriving with pure pace and through the ten years of sweat earned discipline with the cherry, guts with the bat and the best yorker in one dayers. He also came across as an honest and generous guy too, so I raise a glass to him. Well said Jrod.
He was almost un-australian in his non-dickery, if that’s a word. That’s what will always stay in my mind when I think about Brett Lee. He’s a genuinely likeable bloke. Fast bowlers are just not supposed to be that way.
Brett lee was smartest fast bowler. He played within his limitation. Also he was little too nice to my liking. He should have been more abrasive against indian batsman and would have got more wickets.
Tait even with his speed , he lacks cunningness or 10% smart of brett lee. I think if he matures with his speed he will be dangerous. But it is always the case when bowler matures his speed drops below 150.
I always think super fastbowlers need ferocious offcutters to be 1 up on all top batsman. Most batsman do dead bat on yorkers , They can’t do anything with offcutters on that speed. I really want to see more stump flying than sixers.
Also he was little too nice to my liking..
Not as good as the one against Tresco though.
What The Beggy Groin said.
Sach´s last blog ..Online Stalking
I think he deserves to be an all-time great because of the place he’s carved out for himself in the face of Australian cricket – he was high-profile, not always for the right reason maybe, but he worked the cult of personality superbly without ever becoming just a face or a gimmick. It was always primarily about the bowing, about always trying to be better, with him.
reina´s last blog ..Runs, Retirements, and Some Serious TMI
I thought he was bowling pretty well the last year or so, those few times when he was uninjured. Great guy, I remember when he was selling suits in Sydney, that seems like yesterday.
He was not great always , may be some days. He never had that intimidation that other fast bowler had. People respect him because he was nice dude. A blue collar worker at best.
I don’t consider any bowler is good if they do not intimidate the batsman with their bowling..
He was good in patches here and there and mostly people remember brett lee for nice guy than great fast bowler.
Like steyn was in first Test in Nagpur. He was like look at me look at me , i am crushing all indian batsman. Ofcourse he quiet down because these ODI pitches in India are tailor made for batsman. I can even tolerate flat pitch as long as ground is average big. if pitch is flat and ground is small and it will be nightmare for bowlers even against decent batsman.
Brett Lee was UnAustralian if you want to put in single word. He was more of second tier of fast bowlers.
He was not great. Extremely hard worker and worked his body like a machine. He did n’t play mental game that was his flaw!.
Brett lee was vanilla compare to any other great fast bowlers. He has spinner mind with fast bowling skills.
I always thought the poor thing tried too hard..
He had a sensational first couple of seasons before injury took it’s toll – some stat like one of the quickest pace bowlers to 100 wickets comes to mind, but I can’t confirm that.
England should thank their lucky stars he was never really fit or at the top of his game when he played them.
Shame about last Ashes – he looked really good before getting that ab injury.
Of course, I’d be remiss not to mention the middle period of his career which basically consisted of short out side off-stump going for 4, or full being driven for 4. Rinse. Repeat.
Man, I got the goosebumps when reading that! Great tribute, Jrod!
I doff my hat off to the first truly great fast bowler of the 21st century!
Thiru Cumaran´s last blog ..Some absolute peaches from ‘When Freddie Became Jesus’
Brett Lee was mediocre, and he never really performed well. He never made a single century in his career, and that effort at Edgbaston was also in a losing cause. He could certainly biff once or twice in the late order, but c’mon – an average in the teens? Ashraful is a better batsman, and that’s saying something.
Um. Wait – we are talking about his batting, aren’t we?
Of course, I also remember him singing a bollywood number with Simi Garewal. That aside, Edgbaston 2005 for life! Whatay warrior!!
cb
I think you mean Asha Bhonsle. Very execrable, but endearing.
Another incident which encapsulates Lee – a couple of years ago, he bowled a beamer at Tendulkar, not for the first time. Tendulkar takes evasive action, Lee instantly apologises, Tendulkar smiles and shrugs it off, Lee grins and goes back to bowling. I can’t think of a single other fast bowler who was such an all-round nice guy that the batsman wouldn’t be riled by multiple beamers. And mind you, these beamers were among the fastest ever bowled.
Wonderful wonderful bowler. I shudder to think of the effect losing Lee and gaining Watson has on Australia’s likeability.
Since Brett Lee is being mentioned I wanted to put in a word of appreciation. Accha banda tha! (Means he was a good guy).
When he took a fivefor in his first test against India, he seemed a great in the making. But I hated him then for obvious reasons and wanted him to do badly subsequently. But in the last series against India, I was desperate for him to do well. That takes some doing.
The only blemish for me will be his Asha Bhosle duet, and his underwear line! Otherwise a thoroughly likeable guy.
He must have the distinction of being the only bowler of his generation to cross 300 Test wickets while continuously bowling 90 miles. Add to that the many ODIs and you got to wonder how he was able to handle so much. His career stretching for 76 Tests is a testament to his work ethic. Kudos to the chap.
His bowling in 2008 against India was downright scary. Getting the new ball to curve at high speeds, he could have got wickets at will. Luck did not favour him then.
There is some major contradiction going on in Alex’s ranting. Oneplace he calls him the smartest. In thenext comment, he calls him “second tier of fast bowler.”(his grammer, not mine). Seems that Tyler Durden got competition.
NOOOOO, Dhananjay, what have you done??!!! FUCCCK, now another post will become a shitstorm.
Like the nursery rhyme, when he was good he was very very good, and when he was bad he was awful. He did have some very fine periods tho, in his first year (lucky enough to see him at the WACA vs the Windies when Aus made it 12 in a row) and most of the time from Jan 07 onward. Most of the very big bit in between was pretty crap tho…
I reckon he would have destroyed England in the last Ashes if fit… which of course would have made a big difference to his ongoing reputation… I’d have like to see him go out on a better note
He is still not and can never be Shane fucking Watson.
Mock Wah´s last blog ..Sachin, Sehwag and other guys
Definitely one of the greatest bowlers in One Day Internationals, not as good in the longer format but he’d walk into any international side. But what stood out most was his commitment to his team. There was a time in the mid noughties when Lee and Akhtar were competing to be the best fast bowler in the world. While Akhtar was out giving himself a bad name and breaking down after every other test Lee was struggling to get into the test side. He came to India in 2004 and didn’t play a single test, yet he was always cheerful and friendly with the fans. Terrific cricketer, terrific athlete, great sportsman.
Mahek´s last blog ..FICA and the need for a Collective Bargaining Agreement – II
He should have bleed the midget face if he would have been great fast bowler with that beamer. Well he missed the face. Not good.
People can be smart 2nd tier fast bowler. We are talking about whether he was great or not.
He was not. He lacked that abrasive aggressive instinct , you can’t be nice to indian batsman and bowl fast. It will end up in boundary. Fast bowlers has to make batsman uncomfortable and thinking about the fats bowler next delivery…Brett lee was predictable with all his niceties.
He can be bollywood star with fair skin requirement.
Nice post, J-Rod, and very well said. So eloquent.
Matt – I agree, would’ve been nice to see him leave on a better note, maybe have a farewell series.
good job pretty boy! Brett lee was awesome! Period.
For me, the highlight of Brett Lee’s career was the way he stepped up the plate after Mcgrath and Warne’s retirement. He was consistently fast and accurate in the 2007-08 series against India. and he was also one of the few players who emerged out of that scrappy series with their dignity intact.
Test cricket will surely miss him.
Alex you are right about his demeanour, but he wasn’t a smart bowler. Anyone who considers him a all-time great is a damned fool. He was a good third wheel when Gillespie and McGrath hit the boring parts in their relationship.
Lee was a superb one-day bowler but wasn’t that good in test cricket. He just couldn’t get the same amount of swing with the red ball still a fine bowler.
My cricket blog
http://greyblazerr.blogspot.com/
To me, Brett Lee and Gilly were the perfect examples of playing the game hard (or Aussie) way. Their aggression was always on display by their performances and never by the so called ‘mental disintegration’ method much favored by their captain. Hope to see him turn out with his fast inswinging yorkers in IPL and t20s…
Kr,
The one with Asha Bhonsle is not so worth remembering
I really meant his ‘Rendezvouz with Simi Garewal’ .. you can chk it out on youtube I guess.
cb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48eHkZfnGug
one of your best jrod. fine form. i was relentless in my bagging of binga a few seasons ago but now hes gone i miss him. hope he gets the chance for some sort of swansong in aussie colours before his body gives up on him.
Really sad to see one of the fastest bowler leaving test cricket. I am a big fan of Brett Lee
Well, no other fast bowler (Akhtar, Tait, Bond) played as many test matchs as Lee. He worked realy hard to stay fit and play his game. One of the best fast bowler i seen till now!
I was talking about this -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UR4jkLUvrM
There was a huge buildup, as always, for this particular tv show episode as it had Brett Lee singing an Indian song for the first time on camera and myself and a few friends were all glued to the tv set waiting for him to sing just those 2 lines. What is it with cricketers and singing? Oh, lee and king kumar terribly disappointed me with that BSB number! (comeon! fast bowler and BSB?!) But king kumar was still funny.
cb
Felt compelled to put finger to keyboard just to say a comment policy is indeed a sad day for you Cant believe it’s really needed Much love to you xx
Just saw the Lee/Asha duet. I’m speechless. This must be one of the most incredible cultural artifacts of the last 10 years. I just can’t get over it, brilliant.
One of your best ones
Hey no mention of the torrid work up given to Brian Lara in west Indies. I loved that.
Bret was good.. honest. It more of what could have been. I guess he did not have support during 2006-2008 period when he was best bowler in world, consistent, fast and taking wickets.
During that period he led aussies bowling and he lost everything after that.
Good bloke..