The "new" Brett Lee

[Rachael]

Just starting a thread to try and get a fairer picture of the "new" Brett Lee... the one who was swinging the ball quite prodigiously and bowling with excellent control and variation last night. This isn't the Brett Lee those of us based in the UK tend to think we know... recalling more the scatter-gun straight-and-fast merchant... the one who once seemed more capable of losing a team a match than winning it.

I'd heard that he'd improved massively of late.. and his top 10 ODI ranking certainly suggested that... but what's the score on his recent domestic cricket form.... and is there some very profound change that's been seen? Any technical tweaks?

[Beny]

Brett's been on the sidelines for a while now, serving in the ODI's but still second choice to Kaspa in the tests. I dont think there is anything changed about him other than the fact that he is as fit as ever. Accuracy and control have always been his problem and we would expect him to work on trying to fix that and he's had plenty of time to work on it.

[Milo]

Brett Lee has always been impressive in LOI games. His performance is nothing new. When there is no need to push for boundaries off Brett Lee, you can simply sit and wait for the rank long hop/half volley. Do not expect him to reproduce these results at test level. His impetus for Ashes berth can only be a good thing for England.

[Leafy Seadragon]

Milo, I have long been an advocate thta Lee is not a test bowler. However, I must admit that I think he's probably doing enough in ODIs to warrant another go if the need arises or an opportunity presents. Problem is that because he's been playing almost exclusively ODIs for the past year or so, there's no grounds to test whether there really is the improvement that some seem to see, including a few commentators who usually know what they're talking about. I think that in the first case, Kaspa & Gillespie will line up for the Aussies

[Andy Mellon]

Lee's just been hit for 20 runs of an over by Ashraful - including a wide and a no ball. Is he showing his inconsistency again?

[Seamer]

Lee is OK with the new ball, but once the shine is off the ball, he will be easy meat for the English batsmen if he plays in the tests.

[Beny]

He's not getting much swing today. As for that 20 runs, two very lucky sixes that could easily have been wickets. Last shot was nice though.

[Occasional Fan]

Beny - you saw it and I didn't, but those about those sixes: how close were they to the ropes? The radio commentary suggested that at least one of them was well clear - so not all that easy for it to be a wicket.

[Beny]

They we're both top edges that relied on Lee's pace to make it to the boundry. Had they hit the bat 1cm higher than they did then it would have been nicked through to Gilly.

[Beny]

This is what the public has to say.

Originally Posted by Cric Info

Should Brett Lee replace Michael Kasprowicz for the First Test at Lord's Yes79.6% (1636 votes) No 20.4% (419 votes)