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How would you rate Brett Lee across all formats?

SLcric123

Tape Ball Regular
Joined
Jul 4, 2016
Runs
354
He averages 30.88 and has picked 310 wickets in 76 tests while in odis, he has picked 380 wickets at 23.36.

I think he is an ODI ATG and a very good test bowler. How would you define his overall legacy?

Discuss!
 
You summed it up well. If memory serves me correct his WC record is very good as well.
 
An ATG ODI bowler.

In Tests, he was too erratic with his line and length. Would go for runs. But when he takes wickets, he takes them in bunches. Still a very good ODI bowler.
 
Excellent ODI bowler.

Moderate in tests and very lucky to have McGrath at the other end - didn't seem to have a stock ball, it was all bouncer-yorker-bouncer-yorker. He was a big factor in the England Ashes win in 2005. Tres, Strauss and Vaughan were picking him off for fours nearly at will at times.
 
Excellent ODI bowler.

Moderate in tests and very lucky to have McGrath at the other end - didn't seem to have a stock ball, it was all bouncer-yorker-bouncer-yorker. He was a big factor in the England Ashes win in 2005. Tres, Strauss and Vaughan were picking him off for fours nearly at will at times.

Can remember that series. His batting wasn't bad in that series though:yk
 
An ATG ODI bowler and a good Test bowler. In addition, he was a proper box office player who is one of the most loved and celebrated cricketers of all time.

His persona, pace, fitness, action and that signature celebration won him many fans around the globe. In the 2000s, Shoaib Akhtar was the only bowler who matched his popularity and stardom.
 
Being tall handsome quick and charismatic would make enhance his popularity.
Performance wise like others have said very good in ODIs and average in tests didn't complement McGrath enough should've done better in tests playing in the lineup he did.
 
Excellent ODI bowler, easily in the top 10 of all time. Bowled fast and did it consistently. Always had a smile on his face.
 
Great ODI bowler, a menace for Pakistan whenever he played against us... Better than Shoaib in ODIs.

Akhtar does better in test matches... however he played considerably lesser than hi,
 
An underrated perspective of his game was his batting. A very decent bat down the order with an average of 17.82 in ODIs and average of 20.15 in tests.

Thats pretty handy, we would call this allrounder level batting.
 
Brett Lee was a great ODI bowler and surely a ATG in that format. Could have been much better in tests though but still a decent enough third seamer for Australia.
 
What is Brett Lee's success in India, Sri Lanka, UAE bowling on those roads? I don't recall seeing him ever run through a side on absolute dead wickets like Akhtar has done many times in his career.
 
Like Shahid Afridi, he was someone who would get in a team based on name alone. A true star player and someone who had fans from across the world. Unlike Afridi, he was a genuine ATG in the shorter format and he could back up his style with substance.
 
ATG ODI bowler and a good test bowler.

Very exciting, pacy and entertaining cricketer. A massive box office hit.
 
He is the greatest ODI pacer in my opinion.
That ave in an era dominated by bat is just exemplary.
 
A poor man's MJ (Ashes 2013) at his best, at his worst though he's arguably one of the worst pacers to play so many tests for Aus in the last 50 years. Being in an ATG squad with McWarne & Gillespie, Mcgill had its obvious perks.
 
Far better in ODIs than he was in Tests.

Was terrifying in the 2003 WC.
 
I feel like todays batsman would play him alot better then the batsman of 2000's where aggressive players were very few and far between compared to now.

The t20 generation batsman of this age like Kohli, Root, Williamson would take him to the cleaners i reckon because Lee's good balls were either a bouncer or yorker, these batsman of todays age back themselves to clear the boundary on these balls, where the batsman of the last generation would rather duck and dive out of the way.
 
He is the greatest ODI pacer in my opinion.
That ave in an era dominated by bat is just exemplary.

Nah not for me, even Waqar was a better ODI pacer then him in my opinion.

Lee was rated in his time more for his looks and blonde hair then anything, and the fact that India made him a superstar getting him to sing a duet with lata mangeshkar, starring in films etc because the Indians didn't want to give Shoaib Akthar any more popularity because he was pakistani.
 
Excellent ODI bowler.

Moderate in tests and very lucky to have McGrath at the other end - didn't seem to have a stock ball, it was all bouncer-yorker-bouncer-yorker. He was a big factor in the England Ashes win in 2005. Tres, Strauss and Vaughan were picking him off for fours nearly at will at times.

Couldn’t agree more. I loved it when he would come on and dish out dollies for easy runs. Thanks to him and McGrath stepping on a cricket ball the 2005 ashes ended up being at least a little competitive otherwise England would have been steam rollered
 
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In ODIs, one of the greats.

I think he was brilliant to watch in Test cricket. Something always happened when he came on, and he took some beautiful wickets at extreme pace. He did seem to be very expensive at times though (in Tests) and could lose his radar, after which he would get slaughtered for boundaries — which was particularly notable in the 05 Ashes when he was bowling to Trescothick, Flintoff and KP (though he often got them out in the end!)
 
Gun odi bowler In the yellow shirt lee was one of the very best
 
Worth in gold that unique action and hair flying and ball whistle to the keeper
 
No excuse to average 30 in test cricket playing in Australia and next to McGrath, Gillespie, Kasprowicz, Warne etc
 
Would have been devastting had he played in this era.

Without elbow injury he wouldve been even faster
 
Imagine Lee would have had a similar ODI record to Starc if he played in the two new balls era. Also his Test record would have been slightly better if he played on current Test pitches, given that we saw flat batting tracks through most of the 2000s.
 
Ofcourse he was great but let his team down big time today. Went for 60 in 4 overs.
 
I would rate him ahead of Southee and Ishant Sharma in Tests because his numbers would have been better if he didn't had to deal with flat pitches in 2000s.

Zak probably had an edge due to being a left armer and his best between 2007-11 was really good despite some really flatter wickets.
 
He is a legend without a doubt.

After Shoaib Akthar, he was the most fearsome bowler in that era. Raw pace.
 
Greatest One Day bowler for me.
Very good in tests too considering he played most of the matche in 2003-2012 era where the wickets all around the world were complete pattas.
 
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