November 08 Friday 2002
I will bounce back, says Australia's Lee

SYDNEY: Strike bowler Brett Lee says his axing from Australia's team to play England had made him more determined than ever to make the grade. 

He told reporters on Thursday: "I know I can bounce back from it. It's made me very hungry and I'm just going to work twice as hard now and really focus on what I've done the last couple of years." 

Lee will join former Test players Mark Waugh, Michael Bevan, Stuart MacGill, Michael Slater and Simon Katich in the New South Wales side to host Tasmania in a four-day interstate match at Sydney Cricket Ground starting on Friday. 

Lee, who turns 26 on Friday, burst onto the international scene in December 1999 when he captured five wickets on his Test debut. His blond hair and ready smile have made him one of the faces of Australia cricket in television promotions. 

He has struggled in the past two years, however, hampered by elbow problems and managed just five wickets at an average of 46.80 in the recent three-Test series against Pakistan. 

Australia chose veteran paceman Andy Bichel ahead of Lee for the first Test. 

Lee has taken 89 wickets at 27.94 from 24 Tests but his strike rate has declined markedly since claiming 42 wickets at 16.07 in his first seven matches. 

"I just feel now I'm starting to hit my straps again," Lee said. "I'm feeling very fit and there's no reason why I can't bowl probably like I did two years ago." 

In contrast Bevan, 32, who has played 18 Tests and 186 one-day internationals and who plays his 100th first-class match for New South Wales on Friday, says he holds little hope of claiming a 19th Test cap. 

"It's just a case of me enjoying the rest of my career really and I've got to be realistic," the former Yorkshire and Sussex batsman told reporters. 

"When you've averaged 60 or 70 for the last four or five years playing for NSW and you've not got a look in then it's probably not going to happen."