SYDNEY - Australian tearaway fast bowler Brett Lee is a rare breed of cricketer assured of Shane Warne-like fame and fortune if he can avoid injuries and a big head, says Test skipper Steve Waugh.
Waugh was waxing lyrical about Lee in his latest tour diary released ahead of the five-Test series against the West Indies this summer.
After carrying the drinks for three Tests against Pakistan late last year, Lee was given the chance to parade his raw but undoubted skills in the Boxing Day Test against India in Melbourne.
Lee took five wickets in the Indian first innings, and he now has 31 international victims at the healthy average of 16.06.
Two of his deliveries in Johannesburg in April were clocked at a blistering 156km/h, making him the fastest bowler in the world since Australian Jeff Thomson nudged the 160kmh barrier in the mid-1970s.
"It's only very rarely that you get to see or play with a guy who bursts on the scene and grabs all the attention as Shane did when he first emerged on the cricket scene," Waugh wrote.
"Just like Shane Warne, Brett Lee is much more than a passing fad.
"He's a once-in-a-generation player, enormously gifted with class and flair, the ability to ignite the imagination of all spectators, and such an impact player that he'll quickly be changing the way kids want to play the game.
"Warney turned leg spinning into a highly fashionable art, with potential young champions taking it up in their thousands.
"I reckon 'Binger' will do the same for pace bowling.
"They both have an aura and presence about them, we in Australian cricket are so lucky to see them both play at the same time."
A broken finger will prevent Warne from partnering Lee in the Test side until Boxing Day, by which time the 24-year-old New South Welshman's star will probably have risen even further.
"Brett has lightning speed, an athletic build and a good cricket brain but he's also down to earth, has a hunger for success and what all great bowlers need -- a ruthless streak," Waugh wrote.
"The only two things that can stop him are one, injury, and two, if he's unable to keep his feet firmly on the ground."