Born battler Lee fighting a lost cause

Peter Roebuck feels Brett Lee will be hard pressed to regain his place in the Australian Test team. Why? Because Lee is 32, he does not scare batsmen, he has less room for manoeuvre than peers with similar track records, he has not bowled a ball at full pelt for arguably an entire year, and in the meantime another generation has risen. So, says Roebuck, the desperation to restore Australia's only experienced pace bowler has diminished. He writes in the Sydney Morning Herald:

Now Lee is trying with might and main to secure a place in the Ashes touring party. It is something he needs in his life, to retain the ready smile. However, recent results confirm he can no longer command a place in the starting XI. It's not easy for a 32-year-old pace bowler to break back into a Test team.

Nor will Lee be able to prove his worth in domestic matches. Injury has removed that opportunity. As if the odds were not already stacked against him, Lee failed with the ball on his last Ashes trip in 2005, taking 20 wickets at 41.10 in the five Tests. Indeed he has never succeeded in England. Presumably the pitches are not firm enough for his purposes.