AUSTRALIA will spare Bangladesh the fire of Brett Lee in the triangular one-day series clash tomorrow even though scans have cleared the paceman from any serious damage to his injured shoulder.
Lee spent Thursday in London, away from the Australians' Welsh hotel, so he and physiotherapist Errol Alcott could visit three specialists to determine the cause of sharp pain in his right bowling shoulder, which he experienced in his fourth over of Wednesday's loss to county side Somerset.
Lee, who has never previously suffered shoulder troubles, took no further part in that match.
The Bangladeshi batsmen were undone by the lifting ball in the first of the tri-series matches, at The Oval on Thursday, as England bowled the minnows out for 190 and then won by 10 wickets.
But despite Lee's fearsome pace, bounce and outstanding one-day form from the past six months, Australia took a safety-first approach to ensure the speedster is available for the rest of the three-month Ashes tour.
That means Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz and possibly Shane Watson could play both matches this weekend, as Australia plays England in Bristol on Sunday.
"I think it would be very unlikely Brett playing over the wekend, regardless of what comes out of the scans," said Australian coach John Buchanan.
"He obviously felt a bit of soreness in his shoulder, so if it's all good news then I think we'd err on the side of caution."
Cricket Australia said Lee had suffered a bruised shoulder while batting in the Twenty20 match against England on Monday.
"(This) may have caused some restriction to Lee's normal bowling action," CA said in a statement.
"This change of action has exacerbated a previous minor shoulder injury Lee sustained four years ago."
Lee's current absence from the one-day side is a blow for a team needing to regain its swagger, as the New South Welshman has been in impeccable touch in the couloured clothes despite his inability to break back into the Test lineup.
Lee took 30 wickets at 19.95 in Australia's 15 one-dayers at home and in New Zealand this year and in his last match, against the Black Caps in Napier, broke the magical 160kph barrier for the first time since the 2003 World Cup.
Lee is the only Australian in pain, but his teammates are still smarting after bad losses to England, in Monday's Twenty20 match, and Somerset, which pulled off a magnificent run-chase at Taunton.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting was fuming at his bowlers and fielders after Somerset reached 6-345 with 19 balls to spare, but Buchanan said the side could not let anger blur its vision at the start of the tri-series.
"If we want to go out and play angry and play on emotion then I think our performances would deteriorate," Buchanan said.
"So it's still about making sure that we keep improving on our skills and ... I think that's what we can do very well and and that's why I'm very confident our play will improve as this tournament goes along."
Despite never having been troubled by Bangladesh in six previous one-day matches, Buchanan said the Australians could not take the battlers lightly given its own hellish week.
"People thought it would be fairly routine in terms of the Twenty20 for us and then Somerset and it hasn't quite turned out that way," he said.
Batsman Damien Martyn, who experienced hamstring tightness while batting against Somerset, has been cleared fit to play tomorrow at at Sophia Gardens.
- ADAM COOPER