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A feature by Karthik Narayan

A decade ago, one would have heard the kids watching cricket at home and elsewhere exclaim, “Boy, would I love to become a Shane Warne/Muthiah Muralitharan”. Well, all those days are gone and buried. Now its just a THREE letter word that turns every head on TV, A brand new Generation Next Sensation L-E-E. If you ever saw the trail of a ball fizz past your nose, you must be facing this young man from New South Wales. The name is Lee, Brett Lee. Bruised Lee for the batsman! Because by the time they see his balls, they are bruised, or their stumps are re-arranged!
 

This Gonzales is all about speed. He just keeps the speed gun dazzling with his high-speed deliveries at an average speed of 150 km per hour. His greatest asset as a bowler is his smile. He is not your average speed giant, those conventional pacemen with the glares and gestures. He would just wryly smile at you and get back to his long run-up ready to hurl yet another fiery fizzing delivery at you. A happy-go-lucky cricketer who most thoroughly enjoys his cricket. A little wayward at times, he would strive for pace and spray the ball around. But when he hits the line, well, that’s the end of that batsman. Brett Lee would beat the batsman for sheer pace.  
 

One of the fastest bowlers in world cricket today, Brett Lee made quite a few heads turn with his test debut against India in the traditional Boxing Day Test at MCG. Instantly the world had got a new cheerful hero to cheer! His presence was immediately felt by the Indians, he got a 5-wkt haul in that match, which by any means is no ordinary feat. For those who haven’t watched Thommo in action, watch this bowler. He has got charm and grace and he’s put fear into the minds of all batsmen he’s bowled to.

Like all FAST bowlers, Brett Lee has a long run up (shortened these days to 21 meters!), and as is the case with all fast bowlers, RHYTHM is all-important for Lee. This SIX-letter word, (RHYTHM) wholly makes this bowler a force to reckon with. Shane Lee, Brett Lee’s brother also represented Australia, which is a unique Aussie record for brothers doing National duty, International duty rather! They follow the Chappell brothers and the Waugh twins.

There is no better sight heart gladdening sight for a fast bowler than to see the furniture rearranged, especially if it breaks free from the ground and rock and rolls along! And Brett Lee belongs to this passionate club, shouting “TIMBER” is his forte and he strives so hard for all that.

Being a fast bowler is no easy job; your fitness is the most essential thing – mental alertness and keeping your composure is the key and Brett fits all these elements to a “T”. The chief architect of this great fast bowler is another great Aussie fast bowler Dennis Lillee. Lee is the very flavor that has the exuberance of youth and the arrogance of the greats. He is not all just sheer pace. In fact, he is maturing as an intelligent bowler of late, with 5 years experience in this area. Like Shoaib Akhtar, one of his competitors for the speed gun and yet his close friend, Lee also came under the scrutiny of the ICC for a suspect action. He has overcome all that. Lee bowls with quite a bit of variation in pace every now and then, in between fizzing balls, perfume balls, he would throw in the very deceptive back-of-the-hand slower ball, which would be very slow compared to other balls. (A very considerable variation of about 25 kmph!)

He is no rabbit with the bat; he hits lusty blows to the fence, and he can be relied upon to hit any team out of the match, especially in ODIs. He can dent his rival opposition fast bowlers’ confidence, by sheer arrogance with the bat. He uses the long handle to good effect.  

Youth at its best. This blonde paceman will give his best shot every time he steps into the field. Watch out for this DYNAMIC THOMMO!

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