Brett Lee in test team

[social]

Hmm, Steyn is no better than Lee... but of course Terbrugge, Willougbhy, Langeveldt, Ngam, Hall, Hayward, Dawson, Klusener and Telemachus, all of whom should have been selected ahead of Steyn, are a different matter.

Nonsense as usual

 

[Richard]

Harmison's is 5.

No, it's 9 - he has had 1 good game in his last 9 Test-matches.

 

[Richard]

I have my doubts about any side in the world (save Oz) that would hesitate in picking Brett Lee.

If a bowler can get into the Australian lineup, they can get in any lineup.

Langeveldt (sorry Rich), Klusener, Jones and Anderson better than Lee?

You're a funny guy, though you don't know it.

Langevelt (sorry, Charl), Klusener, S Jones - all much better than Lee.
Anderson? No, he's every bit as poor.
You're a patriotic guy, and though you don't know it it blinkers you.

 

[Richard]

Nonsense as usual

Such a compelling counter!

 

[Fiery]

Jones would get in ahead of Lee.

Yeah right. Is that a Tui ad?

 

[Fiery]

There are probably 6 or 7 better English bowlers, and maybe the same number of Australians.

Whip your chin. There's something brown on it.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, stubble. Can't get rid of that by whipping, though - need to shave for that.

 

[chaminda_00]

Which explains how he's not played Tests despite doing well in ODIs...

Their hasn't been any Test since the start of the VB Series, his OD form proir to that wasn't good enough to even think about him infront of Kaspra, but now it is.

Anderson is nowhere near the team, and Jones would get in ahead of Lee.

If Anderson is nowhere the England team then why is he in his squad and why did he play in the recent SA Test Series. Jones' test record is as bad if not worse then Lee so why would he make the side in front of Jones considering he is allot better batsmen and fielder to boot.

That'd be because he can actually swing the ball.
Bracken might well be twice as accurate as Lee and if you could combine Lee's swing with Bracken's accuracy you'd have some bowler.
And I'd say Bracken can learn swing (or rather how to swing it at Test-level) easier than Lee can learn accuracy.

Well Braken got dropped for Lee thoughtout this season when Lee came back for a couple of games for NSW. So he is well below Lee when it comes to Test selection, even though he is swinging the ball again

There are probably 6 or 7 better English bowlers, and maybe the same number of Australians.

Can u name those bowlers, their is only three if that that are better then Lee

 

[Somerset]

Hmm, Steyn is no better than Lee... but of course Terbrugge, Willougbhy, Langeveldt, Ngam, Hall, Hayward, Dawson, Klusener and Telemachus, all of whom should have been selected ahead of Steyn, are a different matter.

I only mentioned Steyn because he was recently South Africa's third seamer in the English series but you must be joking with the majority of those bowlers. David Terbrugge? Roger Telemachus? Charl Willougbhy? Dawson? Mr injury himself, Ngam? Sure, Langeveldt is improving, while Hall and Klusener are useful at times but none of those bowlers are anyway near the standard of Brett Lee.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Richard, what basis do you judge Lee on?

Stats? (understandable since he went for 200 runs in his last test, though a recent MoS is nothing to sneeze at)

Past achievements?

Current form? (God forbid)

Six months ago I was crucifying Lee, but the turnaround he's had is astounding. How does Willoughby outclass him in your book?

 

[Black Thunder]

at the moment he shouldn't be.

All three seam bowlers are doing a great job and don't deserve to get dropped. What Lee has done in the one-day form has been good but hasn't been so good as to replace Kasper.

 

[vic_orthdox]

despite bowling better, still can't give him a game in tests. i think that we saw with symonds the result of promoting someone to the test side as a direct result of their ODI form. when lee takes some wickets in 4 day games, and a spot opens up because someone is bowling poorly or injured, then he should be played....and if he stops those ridiculous, cringe-worthy celebrations, and thinking he's gods gift to australian cricket.

 

[Fiery]

....and if he stops those ridiculous, cringe-worthy celebrations, and thinking he's gods gift to australian cricket.

Oh, that's so good to hear an Australian say it. Thank you vic_orthodox. His send off of Vettori last night made me want to throw a stubbie through the TV... I didn't because it was my last one.

 

[Black Thunder]

There is always a media push for Brett Lee to get into the Australian team (especially from NSW) and it's simply because he's the highest paid Australian player. Not by CA, but from sponsorships and endorsements.

A lot of companies have paid a lot of money to have Brett Lee's product on their product.

And although they can't exactly get the selectors to pick him just to try and further push their product, they can pull strings in the media to put some pressure on them. If enough people read it, then enough people will start to actually believe it and preach it themselves.......

Unfortunately, that's the way it is. Money speaks all languages.

 

[vic_orthdox]

yeh, i remember making a similar point in a thread a couple of months ago. damn poster boy.

 

[Fiery]

yeh, i remember making a similar point in a thread a couple of months ago. damn poster boy.

He's not too popular over here I'm afraid. I think the chant last night was "Brett Lee's a merchant banker" or something. In saying that, we would kill to have someone with that pace in our side. Come back Bondy.

 

[marc71178]

No, it's 9 - he has had 1 good game in his last 9 Test-matches.

No, his run of bad games is the last 5.

 

[Jono]

Oh, that's so good to hear an Australian say it. Thank you vic_orthodox. His send off of Vettori last night made me want to throw a stubbie through the TV... I didn't because it was my last one.

LOL! Although I agree they're disgusting, at least when he got Vettori that wicket meant something to the game and he earnt it.

I'll never forget his chainsaw celebration (I think it was that) when he clean bowled Ganguly, when India were closing in on 700 runs in the 4th test match in Sydney. Absolutely hilarious. I was in absolute shock that he was seriously celebrating.

 

[marc71178]

If Anderson is nowhere the England team then why is he in his squad and why did he play in the recent SA Test Series.

His central contract meant that he was a certain to be in the squad - I think you'll find it'll be a ling time before he plays Tests again.

Jones' test record is as bad if not worse then Lee

Depends which Lee you look at - because there's absolutely no evidence to suggest the pre-injury one will ever return - and the post-injury one is struggling to remain below 40.

 

[Richard]

Can u name those bowlers, their is only three if that that are better then Lee

Englishmen... Gough, Caddick, Cork, Flintoff of late, Hoggard, Johnson, Kirtley. There's your seven, there's probably more if I could be bothered to look.
Australians... Gillespie, Kasprowicz, Bichel, McGrath, Inness, Clark (S), Bracken. Again, there's probably some more.