He’s considered to be amongst the two fastest bowlers in the world, having clocked in excess of 160 kph, but loves fresh water angling and classical western music, Mozart being his favourite composer.
He also says with a straight face that the Australians don’t sledge. “We at times ask the batsmen what are they going to have for dinner”. Meet Brett Lee, the pace sensation from Australia, who was today launched as the brand ambassador for Timex Watches Ltd on the occasion of its global billennium celebrations.
Lee, who is an amateur bass guitarist and started out as an Elvis Presley fan, stated his preference of right-handed batsmen. “With my natural deliveries going away from the right hand batsmen, I prefer to bowl to them rather than left-handers”, he said at the glittering function.
West Indies captain Brian Lara, New Zealand’s world class all-rounder Chris Cairns and Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar were named by Lee, who is the middle member in a family of three cricket playing brothers, as the most difficult batsmen he has bowled against.
The blond Australian, credited with 125 Test wickets and 133 ODI victims in his short career that started in 1999, had a strong word of praise for Dennis Lillee and cited the Aussie pace guru as the man who corrected his mixed bowling style (part side-on, part square-on) and made him less prone to the sort of lower back injury that he sustained early on in his career.
The injury forced the young fast bowler to miss the tour to India a few years ago and the Test series that has gone down as among the most memorable in recent history.
Lee also pooh-poohed the notion held in some quarters that in trying to bowl fast the bowlers lost direction. “I have proved that I can bowl fast as well as straight. I don’t sacrifice my pace for accuracy. But I am happier getting wickets than proving I can bowl very fast”, he indicated.
Lee, who was among the heroes of the Australian triumph in the 2003 World Cup, said his team had worked hard for 18 months or so in the tune-up to the mega event in South Africa. “It may sound very familiar, but our team believes that they can win from any situation”.
The fast bowler, who has been signed on by Times to endorse its products in India, Australia and SAARC countries, also sent out the right kind of sound bytes regarding touring this country. "India is endlessly fascinating of course. I can never get enough of this great country".
Lee, taking a cue from his Test captain Steve Waugh in embracing local culture, had even gone to the Gateway of India to place a wreath for the bomb blast victims. "We had stayed in the Taj (hotel) and I wanted to show respect to those who died in that terrible incident", the fast bowler explained to the media.
-S S Ramaswamy