BRETT Lee reaffirmed his status as one of the biggest hitters in the modern game yesterday when he blasted West Indies quick Daren Powell over the Gabba roof and onto the practice nets outside the ground.
Lee backed up his car-shattering heroics at Trent Bridge during the recent Ashes series against England by delivering the almighty pull shot that left Powell in disbelief.
But Powell was not the only one left stunned by the shot with the ball narrowly missing the family of former Queensland workhorse Carl Rackemann.
Rackemann had just arrived at the ground and was on his way to a corporate function when the ball flew dangerously close to his three-year-old daughter Madeleine and wife Louise.
"At first I thought 'who the hell is throwing cricket balls around here?'," Rackemann told guests at the function. "But when I saw dozens of people chasing it I realised it was the game ball."
The shot will be remembered as one the biggest in the history of the Gabba with only four other players in recent years able to clear the lower stands.
New Zealander Chris Cairns, Zimbabwean born Queenslander Scott Brant and Australia's Andrew Symonds and Shane Lee had previously achieved the feat.