Injured Brett Lee not to tour India

By Malcolm Conn

MELBOURNE, FEB. 5. Australia suffered a major blow in its attempt to win a Test series in India for the first time in 31 years when the country's fastest bowler, Brett Lee was ruled out of the imminent three-Test tour.

Lee is to have surgery to repair the medial ligament and flexor tendon in his right elbow on Tuesday. The injury to his elbow was sustained while fielding during the one-day match against Zimbabwe in Perth on Sunday.

He will then be assessed with a view to his availability for the Ashes tour that begins in late May this year.

The injury is a new one that has no direct relationship to the elbow injury he sustained early in his career. Lee sustained the problem while returning the ball from near the boundary during Zimbabwe's run-chase on Sunday afternoon.

He remained on the field and bowled a spell late in the match before going off the ground for treatment. That spell did not result in any further damage to the elbow.

Lee had a scan on the injury in Perth on Sunday evening before flying to Melbourne to have the elbow evaluated further, an evaluation that confirmed the extent of the problem.

Lee said, ``this is bitterly disappointing especially as I've only just come back from the back injury that kept me out of three Tests. Ironically, my back's fine.

``It's obviously a set-back but I will be trying to remain as positive as possible and I'll be looking forward to the series that follows the tour of India. I'm already targeting the tour of the UK for my comeback.''

Windfall for MacGill

In the meanwhile, Stuart MacGill may be the big winner from the serious and sad elbow injury to Lee. The four-man selection panel link up to finalise the touring party, which will leave next Tuesday, and must now put MacGill squarely back in the frame.

With Shane Warne fit again after suffering a broken finger earlier in the summer chairman Trevor Hohns, Allan Border, David Boon and Andrew Hilditch were leaning towards taking six bowlers in a 14-man squad with only two spinners, Warne and Colin Miller.

It would have been an extremely tough call given that since they played together for the first time MacGill has taken 75 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 25. Warne has 66 wickets from 21 matches at an average of almost 37. His strike rate over that period is almost 76 balls per wicket compared to MacGill's 50.

However Warne's ability to absorb pressure and bowl tightly in any situation to create pressure puts him ahead of MacGill in the eyes of many despite the significant disparity in statistics.

Now without Lee the selectors must seriously consider taking both leg-spinners along with Miller if they are to give Steve Waugh the necessary options and fire-power to win a series in India for the first time in 31 years.

The squad may even be expanded to 15 with three spinners and four fast bowlers - Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Damien Fleming and Michael Kasprowicz or Andy Bichel - despite only three first class matches outside the three Tests and five one-day matches.

Former national coach Geoff Marsh lamented that Australia did not play three spinners in the first Test at Chennai on the previous tour three years ago given the grassless surface which played tricks for the now-injured quickish leg- spinner Anil Kumble.

Never has Australia been able to boast a better and more potentially ruthless trio of fast bowlers than Glenn McGrath, Lee and Jason Gillespie.

Yet since Lee debuted so spectacularly against India in Melbourne more than a year ago it has been almost impossible to get the three of them on the ground together.

In the 10 Tests Australia has played from that Boxing Day all three have been in the same side only once. That was in the second Test against the West Indies in Perth this summer, when Australia won by an innings and 27 runs.

Lee could miss as any as eight Tests with an Ashes series following India. When Lee was creating mayhem from the middle of last summer Gillespie was recovering from a broken leg after a terrible collision with Steve Waugh during the first Test against Sri Lanka in Kandy the previous September.

Unbelievably, Gillespie also missed the first Test this season with a minor hamstring strain. No sooner were they all finally together than Lee was withdrawn from the last three Tests against the West Indies because of hot spots in his back which specialists feared may become stress fractures.

Just what damage the trio could do if they were together for any length of time is anyone's guess. Statistically they already rate amongst the very best of all time.

In fact, Lee has easily the best strike rate of any Australian bowler with 40 wickets or more. His 42 wickets have come at less than 33 balls each and he has a bowling average of just 16.07.

Gillespie is third on that table with 70 wickets coming less than every 44 balls and a bowling average of 21.09 while McGrath is 11th with his 309 wickets coming inside every 52 balls. His bowling average is 22.06.

To offer a comparison, the great Dennis Lillee is 12th with a strike rate of 52.02 and his 355 wickets came at 23.92 apiece, while the frightening Jeff Thomson is 14th with a strike rate of 52.68. His 200 wickets came at 28.01.

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