Lee’s injury may prolong career

Despite missing the World Cup and months of cricket, Brett Lee is looking on the bright side of his ankle injury, saying it could prolong his career by up to two years.

“I’ve always had the goal of lasting till I’m about 34. But having this time off could allow me to feel better than I thought I would at that age and maybe be able to play on for another couple of years,” Lee told The Age

“I’d love to go to the World Cup. But I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m not going. The next best thing is that I’ve got time off and I think that time is going to put another two years onto my career. In that way, it’s a blessing for my life as a cricketer.”

Lee injured his ankle during a training mishap in preparation for the recently completed Chappell-Hadlee series in New Zealand. The fast bowler is confident his ankle will heal completely.

“I’ve got no doubt it will return to full strength. That’s the advice I’ve been given by Dr Kim Slater. He’s worked with me since 2000, he’s been into my ankle four times and he knows it better than I do,” he said.

“To have gone to the World Cup would have put me at risk of doing damage that could have shortened my career by a year or two, but Dr Slater’s got faith that I’m going to come back with my ankle as strong as it was.”