Remembering Brett Lee: Australia's Tearaway Speedster Produced Fiery Spells With His Menacing Pace and Potent Swing

When in full steam, Lee racked up some serious pace and bowled above the 150 kmph  mark consistently to cartwheel the stumps of the best with the willow.

Australia's hegemony in World Cricket during the first decade and a half of the new millennium was largely on the back of a lethal pace attack which the best of opponents feared facing on the 22 yards. While their batting baosted of world class stroke-makers in Hayden, Langer, Ponting, Gilchrist, Symonds and Hussey to name a few, it was their dreaded seam attack along with spin king Shane Warne which helped them script many a memorable wins during that decade long golden phase across all formats of the game. The Australian seam attack lineup was mouthwatering and boasted of world class pacers, one better than the other. Spearheading the attack was the legendary Glen McGrath, an epitome of accurate and consistent line and length bowling, the erratic yet electrifying Jason Gillespie, and last but not the least they had their speed merchant in Brett Lee who was menacing with his tormenting pace and potent swing. After the mean slinger Jeff Thompson, Australia once again had a pacer with raw pace who would blow away batting lineups with fiery spells. Brett Lee was an outright strike weapon who wrecked havoc among the best of batting lineups on seam friendly wickets. The blonde was a nightmare with those rocket like deliveries in his opening burst and toe crushing yorkers towards the death. He prove to be the perfect foil to the more accurate McGrath who relied more on his relentless accuracy around the corridor of uncertainty . Blessed with immense athletic ability, the Blonde from New South Wales ran as fast as a gazelle, with a smooth run-up to the bowling crease and hurled the red cherry at lightning speeds with one of the best bowling actions which others found hard to emulate. Post the McGrath Era, Lee became the spearhead of the Aussies pace attack and formed a deadly pace attack with fellow speed demons in Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Shaun Tait, Stuart Clark, Ben Hilfenhaus and Ryan Harris. Lee certainly went for a few runs but always rewarded the team with prized scalps. Lee was part of that much talked about famous global seam bowling trio off Pakistani Shoaib Akhtar and Kiwi Shane Bond, who in the true sense were deemed as genuine FAST bowlers of that era. When in full steam, Lee racked up some serious pace and bowled above the 150 kmph  mark consistently to cartwheel the stumps of the best with the willow. While his arch rivals; Shoiab Akhtar and Shane Bond were more injury prone, Lee's superlative fitness levels helped him withstand the grind of fast bowling and compete for Australia with distinction for over a decade. Memories of Lee's ever smiling face on the green turf with a burning competitive zeal to compete with the best are very much alive in the hearts of the Australian fans. With 380 ODI scalps and 310 Test wickets in a glittering career, Lee goes down as one of Australia's most successful bowlers at the international stage. Lee was a major performer at the big stage as he delivered some match winning performances with the red cherry when it mattered the most at the ICC World Cups. Lee took 35 wickets in just 17 games  across 3 ICC World Cups to contribute meaningfully to their hat-trick treble from 1999 to 2007. Post his retirement from the sport, Lee has donned yet another avatar with his stint in the commentary box and as a cricket analyst across the media landscape. A multi-talented individual bestowed with varied talents off the cricketing field, Lee is an avid Guitar player and enjoys performing along with his band ‘Six & Out’ which included his brother Shane Lee and former New South Wales cricketers Brad McNamara. Just a few day ago, Lee turned 43 and was poured in with birthday greetings from all across the cricketing fraternity. However,  age is just a number for Lee, who lives his life king size and the spark and charisma on Australia's pace bowling great is still very much alive.