Lee suffers shoulder injury

Australia speedster Brett Lee injured his right shoulder, while bowling, during Australia’s last warm-up match ahead of the NatWest Series, against Somerset.

Lee could bowl only four overs while Australia defended their total of 341, before leaving the field because of the trouble, to not return for the remainder of the match. As it turned out, he was sorely missed, as Graeme Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya trounced the other Aussie bowlers, to take Somerset to an overwhelming win.

Lee returned to London today to have the requisite scans performed on the injured shoulder, following the results of which his immediate participation in the tour will be decided upon. Australian captain Ricky Ponting said, “It was serious for him not to come back out. I knew something was wrong.”

Lee hasn’t played a single Test match for over a year now, however, consistent maturing in the shorter version of the game earned him enough praises and prospects of making his way back through to the Test squad. His participation in the NatWest Series opener is now up in the air, although the situation will be a lot clearer once the results of the scans are known.

Australia start their NatWest Series campaign on Sunday at Bristol, against England, clearly on the back foot, a result of two consecutive thumping defeats.