Should Brett Lee be selected for the Ashes?

[aussie]

Agreed, I'd pick him for the tour if he was fit but not the XI.

Yea i third this notion...

 

[Redbacks]

He is as good a batter as McDonald has shown so far.

 

[Craig]

Murray Mints FTW.

 

[Richard]

Hope he tours at the very least, else in the unlikely event England win it'll be "Lee should've been in the team" as one of the ubiqitous excuses made by the masses (not neccessarily that much of CW).

 

[Evermind]

Hope he tours at the very least, else in the unlikely event England win

Ain't happening.

 

[Richard]

It's extremely unlikely, of course it is. But it was unlikely in 2005 as well - more so, in fact. Sometimes, the unlikely comes to pass.

 

[pasag]

Johnson
Lee
Clark
Siddle

Bollinger first drop.

 

[Jakester1288]

Johnson
Lee
Clark
Siddle

Bollinger first drop.

If Lee has some match fitness, I agree. If not, Bollinger/McGain should be in.

 

[pasag]

If Lee has some match fitness, I agree. If not, Bollinger/McGain should be in.

Yeah, it's obviously based on that assumption. Tour matches will be very important here.

 

[Matt79]

We don't do those anymore do we?

 

[Richard]

"We"? No-one does.

BTW, Michael Hussey should totally open in this Ashes.

 

[pup11]

I didn't think he bowled badly against SA itbt. Some spells were excellent but unrewarding, some were admittedly poor. But he's better than Hilfenhaus for sure. Hilfenhaus's decent bowling is bound to be overrated now because it was part of a great Australian victory. All things considered, Lee's the better bowler.

Don't agree with this, I think for a guy a playing in his first test series, that too away from home, Hilfenhaus bowled pretty well, bowled with very good accuracy and bowled tirelessly without offering any freebies.

He might not have too many wickets to show for that, but he has bowled a lot better than what his figures suggest.

Anyways, I really like Lee, but I don't think he should just straight away walk into the team, he has no FC cricket before the Ashes to prove his fitness and form (unless he plays county cricket), and he shouldn't just be picked on the basis of what he does in the IPL or T20 world championship.

Another thing to consider is, Lee has never enjoyed bowling in English conditions, I guess he bowled as well as he could the last time he played there, but still he ended up with pretty unflattering figures, so expecting any better from him, especially when he is going to enter the series with next to no decent match practice is streching a bit too far, though, I am pretty sure Lee would play in the Ashes despite all this.

 

[Uppercut]

Don't agree with this, I think for a guy a playing in his first test series, that too away from home, Hilfenhaus bowled pretty well, bowled with very good accuracy and bowled tirelessly without offering any freebies.

He might not have too many wickets to show for that, but he has bowled a lot better than what his figures suggest.

Anyways, I really like Lee, but I don't think he should just straight away walk into the team, he has no FC cricket before the Ashes to prove his fitness and form (unless he plays county cricket), and he shouldn't just be picked on the basis of what he does in the IPL or T20 world championship.

Another thing to consider is, Lee has never enjoyed bowling in English conditions, I guess he bowled as well as he could the last time he played there, but still he ended up with pretty unflattering figures, so expecting any better from him, especially when he is going to enter the series with next to no decent match practice is streching a bit too far, though, I am pretty sure Lee would play in the Ashes despite all this.

Hilfy bowled too short here, that's why he hasn't got the wickets to show. Lee wasn't half the bowler in 2005 that he's been since, i think he could be fantastic for Australia in England.

The nostalgia for '05 in me really wants him to play too

 

[Richard]

Lee wasn't half the bowler in 2005 that he's been since

Lee was far better in '05 than he was in '08/09.

 

[Uppercut]

Lee was far better in '05 than he was in '08/09.

I'd back him to get his form back.

 

[Richard]

Would you? I'm not sure I would.

Nor would I back against it, that is, before anyone starts there. But I think if you expect him to return to his 2007/08 glory bowling you could very easily be disappointed.

 

[Uppercut]

Well he doesn't have to go back to being the best fast bowler in the world to be a better option than Hilfenhaus.

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah, Lee and Clark in for Hilfenhaus and McDonald. You don't go from arguably the best fast bowler in the world to not even being Test standard after one poor away series while you're sick in a country you've never toured before on pitches that don't suit you against some of the best batsmen in the world.

If Lee's fit, he's definitely one of our best four bowlers. Same goes for Clark.

 

[Richard]

Well he doesn't have to go back to being the best fast bowler in the world to be a better option than Hilfenhaus.

Certainly doesn't. But neither of the 2005 version or the 2008/09 version would be enormously preferable, from an Australian POV.

And as I've said before, with Lee there isn't often much in-between stuff. He's almost always either magnificent or dreadful.

 

[Uppercut]

Yeah, Lee and Clark in for Hilfenhaus and McDonald. You don't go from arguably the best fast bowler in the world to not even being Test standard after one poor away series while you're sick in a country you've never toured before on pitches that don't suit you against some of the best batsmen in the world.

If Lee's fit, he's definitely one of our best four bowlers. Same goes for Clark.

Aye, Lee didn't even bowl too badly after the India tour. It seems like forever ago, but he took nine wickets only two matches back. His spell in NZ's second innings was as good as he's ever been.

Since then, he's had two matches against SA. The first, in Perth, he bowled two good but largely unrewarded spells and a few poor spells. The second, he bowled one poor spell then got injured. It's hardly enough to turn him from "best seamer in the world" to "worse than Ben Hilfenhaus".