 Australia's pace bowler, Brett Lee has said that he may quit Test match
cricket and focus on only the shorter format of the game to be able to prolong
his international and club cricket career. Lee has been battling with injuries
over the period of the last couple of years, and despite being one of the quickest
bowlers in the world has not been able to be a regular in the side.
This is, mostly due to the fact that the Aussie paceman has not been able to
feature in games on a consistent basis, and the things had come to such a head
that he was not an automatic choice in the side. This had happened in the Ashes
last summer when the Aussies did not select a fit Lee in the last game of the
series, because they were not sure of the fitness levels of the bowler.
This is the changing scenario in today's day and age of cricket, as more and
more cricketers are taking this route of play. Players like Andrew Flintoff,
Jacob Oram and now Lee have retired from the Test match format of the game because
of their injury-issues and have decided that they will play in only the shorter
formats, in which the body will be less taxed.
Lee is currently with 310 wickets in Test match cricket and has played in 76
games in the longer format, apart from 324 scalps in the fifty overs format.
However, ever since 2008, when he was a part of a Test against South Africa,
he is yet to play in a game, and featured in only a game in India in
the ODI series before making his way back to Australia for his latest ailment.
Such is his effect on the game, that Lee, single-handedly won the New South
Wales Blues the Champions League T20 tournament which was played in India in
October, but the load was so much that it took toll of his body and he had to
return back in the start of the tour of India.
Newspapers from around Australia have reported that the decision to
quit the game could well have been taken after consultation with his friend
Andrew Flintoff, who had earlier quit the Tests as well and now pursues his
career as a freelance cricketer. The issue that Flintoff faced was the same,
his injuries were affecting his play.
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