Brett Lee Announces Retirement from Cricket: Career Highlights, Stats, Reaction
Australian fast bowler Brett Lee has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The 38-year-old finishes his distinguished career with 310 wickets in 76 Test matches for Australia, per BBC Sport, the fourth-highest haul in his country’s history.
Lee quit international cricket in 2012 and has focused on the Twenty20 format in the twilight of his career. But he clearly feels that the time is right to walk away from the game after a glittering 20-year career, per Rory Dollard of the Press Association (h/t the Mail Online):
"I'm not Benjamin Button...I'm finally calling stumps on my career. I'm excited and emotional, certainly happy that I've made the right decision.
I knew before this season it was going to be my last season and I think I've had more fun in the last six weeks than I have in the rest of my career.
I didn't bother doing the maths but 20 years is a lot of ice baths, a lot of training sessions, a lot balls bowled and a lot of flights. But it's given me so many great memories.
"
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Lee will play out the remainder of the season in the Big Bash League with his current team the Sydney Sixers before walking away from the game for good.
He can look back on a career that saw him win three of the four Ashes series he took part in, as well as World Cup success in 2003. Lee was also a central figure in the revered Australian team that almost monopolised Test cricket for large parts of the 1990s and 2000s.
His iconic blonde locks, unashamed passion and express pace made him an unforgettable figure in the cricketing world. For young Australians growing up in the early part of the century, Lee was the man to emulate, and for those who have watched his purposeful displays down the years, the day he hangs up his spikes will be an undeniably sad one.
But as we can see here, plenty of batsmen will be glad to see the back of him:
Indeed, England batsman Kevin Pietersen, who had many a battle with the paceman nicknamed “Bing,” paid tribute to the bowler:
As did Australian batsman Shane Watson:
Here’s a look at Lee’s impressive career statistics during his time wearing the iconic baggy green:
| Test | 76 | 310 | 30.81 |
| ODI | 221 | 380 | 23.36 |
| T20 | 25 | 28 | 25.50 |
Only Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee took more wickets for Australia than Lee, and to be among that kind of revered company is a measure of his longstanding influence with the ball.
Hopefully Lee remains in the game after his retirement, for his amicable nature and ferocious bowling make him an ideal candidate to help refine the next generation of Aussie fast bowlers.
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