Role: Bowler
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast
Cricket relative: Brother, Shane Lee (NSW & Australia)
TESTS: 76
Test debut: v India at Melbourne, 26–30 December 1999
Last Test: v South Africa at Melbourne, 26–30 December 2008
Test wickets: 310
Best bowling in an innings: 5–30
Best bowling in a match: 9–171
Five wickets in an innings: 10
Average: 30.81
Strike rate: 53.3
Economy rate: 3.46
Catches: 23
Test runs: 1451
ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS: 221
Wickets: 380
Best bowling: 5–22
Five wickets in an innings: 9
Average: 23.36
Strike-rate: 29. 4
Economy rate: 4.76
Catches: 54
ODI runs: 1176
Not long after the 2014–15 Big Bash League kicked off I was asked whether Brett Lee, who was 38 at the time and determined to hit the 150 km/h mark for the 21st consecutive season, deserved to be acknowledged as the benchmark for pace bowling. I didn’t need much time to reply that he did. Most express pace bowlers have, at best, a career lifespan of ten years. As Bing pointed out, cricket has plenty of stories of fast bowlers who could generate incredible pace, but none of them lasted at the top level for two decades like Brett. He learned to bowl fast and mean at Oak Flats just outside of Wollongong. Bing proved to those of his ilk—the express pace aces—that they could extend their expiry date if they were prepared to work as hard as he did on their fitness and treat the injuries that are unfortunately part and parcel of their vocation. In the pursuit of his explosive pace, Brett subjected his body to incredible stresses and painful injuries. His career almost ended before it even started because he suffered stress fractures when he was a teenager, which meant he needed his trunk covered in a plaster cast, and he also needed a series of ankle surgeries. For some bowlers one ankle injury means the end of their career, but Brett endured six and kept bouncing back. He was someone who had the fortitude to fight on when it would’ve been so easy for him to simply pack it all in and take up surfing—or, in his case, modelling. While he captured 310 Test wickets and 380 one-day international scalps, Brett admitted he considered his longevity his greatest triumph because it demonstrated his mental toughness. I think it also proved that he had the need to bowl fast and furious because, at his peak, Brett was blessed with the ability to bowl at 160 km/h—that’s 100 mph in the old language—and he was exceptional. He had a raw, pure pace and it was that firepower that made him unique in world cricket and he loved it: his celebrations showed this when he took a wicket—the high leap and click of the heels or the ‘chainsaw’.
‘Lethal’ Lee terrified plenty of batsmen over two decades but as he grew older he developed his game and became a smart bowler; he was able to apply his experience to various situations—including his incredible farewell appearance for the Sydney Sixers in the 2014–15 Big Bash League final against the Perth Scorchers. With the Scorchers needing eight runs off the last over to win the title, the English Test batsman Michael Carberry hit his first delivery for four, his second for two and the third for a single. Nathan Coulter-Nile was bowled for one, Sam Whiteman went the very next ball and with the score level on 147, the Pakistani international Yasir Arafat managed to get some bat on it and he scampered through for the winning run. I thought those final balls were a brilliant—a near perfect—display of a paceman keeping his head and controlling the controllables.
Brett was more than an express pace bowler who liked to rattle the batsmen with short-pitched stuff. After Shane Warne and I retired he stepped up for Ricky Ponting and knew when to hit the turbo button and when to slow down the pace a few notches and contain the batsmen. In the nine Tests that followed my retirement he took 58 wickets at 21.55, and that’s a phenomenal record. His value to the Australian team was acknowledged with the 2008 Allan Border Medal and it was thoroughly deserved. He was a good athlete, and could handle the bat as well. Some of the biggest sixes I ever saw were struck by Bing. He had a full swing at it and would nail it. He wasn’t a slog merchant, his Test batting average was 20.15 and with five half centuries I don’t think he was all that far off from being an all-rounder. One of the nice guys off the field, he said his aggression came from the battle with himself and his body; for him it was getting out there and making his body push through barriers. Away from the cricket field Brett has thrown himself into his other love—music. His song ‘You’re the One for Me’, which he wrote during the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy in India, was recorded as a duet with Bing and Bollywood star Asha Bhosle. I think the fact he jumped at the chance to play the leading male role in the romantic comedy UnIndian says a lot about his spirit of adventure and not wanting to have any regrets. I think it’s a good message.
CRAIG MCDERMOTT
All our fast bowlers have to have some aggression in them, it’s just how they use that sometimes. You can be too aggressive and actually forget about what you’re trying to achieve at the other end. I was guilty of that in my time as well on the odd occasion. It’s a fine line you walk. I had a number of ups and downs in my career until I got it right in about 1990.
—‘BILLY’ ON BECOMING CRICKET AUSTRALIA’S BOWLING COACH IN 2011
Full name: Craig John McDermott
Nickname: Billy
Birthdate: 14 April 1965
Birthplace: Ipswich, Queensland
Major teams: Australia, Queensland
Role: Bowler
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast
Cricket relatives: Sons Alister McDermott (Queensland), Benjamin McDermott (Brisbane Heat)
TESTS: 71
Test debut: v West Indies at Melbourne, 22–27 December 1984
Last Test: v Sri Lanka at Adelaide, 25–29 January 1996
Test wickets: 291
Best bowling in an innings: 8–97
Best bowling in a match: 11–157
Five wickets in an innings: 14
10 wickets in a match: 2
Average: 28.63
Strike rate: 56.9
Economy rate: 3.01
Catches: 19
Test runs: 940
ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS: 138
Wickets: 203
Best bowling: 5–44
Five wickets in an innings: 1
Average: 24.71
Strike rate: 36.7
Economy rate: 4.03
Catches: 27
ODI runs: 432
At 19 years of age Craig McDermott was thrown into the deep end of the pool when he was named in an Australian bowling attack that contained Geoff Lawson, Rodney Hogg, Murray Bennett and Greg Matthews, as Australia’s third-pace option against the West Indies in the Melbourne Test of the 1984–85 season—and he swam like a fish! He finished his baptism of fire with six wickets and he followed that up with four scalps on the spin-friendly SCG pitch. Those two efforts set the bar for the big red-headed Queenslander’s next 69 Test appearances because ‘Billy the Kid’ was an exceptional bowler. After making his debut for Queensland at 18 he was introduced to international cricket during the era when Allan Border was rebuilding the Australian team. From the outset Craig proved he was a quality bowler who possessed what was needed to lead the attack. At 20 he took 30 wickets during the 1985 Ashes series and then he bent his back and worked hard in Eden Gardens in Chennai to play his role in Australia’s first World Cup triumph (over England) in 1987. While he was strong and trained hard off the field, he was sidelined by a series of injuries. As well as suffering the strains and stresses that go with the job Craig was cursed with an unlucky dose of bad health: he suffered what turned out to be a life-threatening twisted bowel during the 1993 Ashes series; he needed a hernia operation; in 1994 he was sent home early from South Africa with a knee inju
ry; he suffered a leg injury in New Zealand; and, most significantly of all for me, he injured ankle ligaments when he jumped off a sea wall while on a run during the 1995 tour of the West Indies. I say ‘significantly for me’ because that injury provided me with my big chance to prove myself as a member of the Australian attack and I might add, just for the record, that no, I did not push him! Craig had more than his fair share of setbacks but he fought back time and time again to resume his mantle as the nation’s strike bowler.
For all of his trials and tribulations he still took 291 wickets at 28.63; he captured 203 one-day international wickets and 303 for Queensland at a shade over 25. I learnt a lot from watching Billy. He was a hard trainer, he maintained his quality and I liked that he bowled outswing. On his day he had the ability to blitz through any team’s batting line-up like Epsom salts. He was involved in many lionhearted efforts for Australia but perhaps the one he is best known for is the 8–97 he bagged against England at Perth in 1990–91, an innings in which England was cruising at 2–191 to be all out for 244. He was a quality player, a great bowler, but I think for all that he’s achieved—and what he offered Australian cricket—he’s terribly underrated. I’m glad that he’s back in the national team’s fold as the bowling coach because when I was a raw fast bowler he helped me and I see that he has plenty to offer. Before he joined the team in 2014, he suggested that young fast bowlers ought to follow the gymnastics programs that young gymnasts training for the Olympics use in order to be as ‘strong as an ox’. When the Australian team’s bowlers were falling like flies to injuries, McDermott maintained the best preparation for a fast bowler was to put the joggers on and get some kilometres in their legs; he reasoned fast bowlers will run 20 kilometres a day. In his first stint as the Australian team’s bowling coach he had the likes of Peter Siddle and James Pattinson run three sessions of five kilometres a week. The great thing about Craig McDermott, apart from his status as one of Australia’s top fast bowlers, is that he has lived the dream … and the nightmare. His experience and his ability to explain aspects of the art of fast bowling will be beneficial for the new breed coming through, such as NSW pace ace Pat Cummins who, despite being named Man of the Match after his Test debut in South Africa when he was only 18, has had his own hurdles to overcome.
JASON GILLESPIE
This is ridiculous. I was just lucky that the shots came off and I had a bit of a laugh all the way. It’s unbelievable. It’s a fairytale really. Hansel and Gretel and Dizzy’s double hundred, it’s one and the same. Absolute fairytale. He [Matthew Hayden] reckoned he’s going to do a nude run of the oval if I got 200. I said if I got 200, I’d do a nude lap too.
—‘DIZZY’ ON SCORING 201* IN A TEST AGAINST BANGLADESH
Full name: Jason Neil Gillespie
Nickname: Dizzy
Birthdate: 19 April 1975
Birthplace: Darlinghurst, New South Wales
Major teams: Australia, South Australia, Ahmedabad Rockets, Glamorgan, Yorkshire
Role: Bowler
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast
TESTS: 71
Test debut: v West Indies at Sydney, 29 November – 3 December 1996
Last Test: v Bangladesh at Chittagong, 16–20 April 2006
Test wickets: 259
Best bowling in an innings: 7–37
Best bowling in a match: 9–80
Five wickets in an innings: 8
Average: 26.13
Strike rate: 54.9
Economy rate: 2.85
Catches: 27
Test runs: 1218
ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS: 97
Wickets: 142
Best bowling: 5–22
Five wickets in an innings 3
Average: 25.42
Strike rate: 36.2
Economy rate: 4.21
Catches: 10
ODI runs: 289
It’s a bit harsh naming Dizzy Gillespie at No. 11, after all he did score a Test double hundred against Bangladesh. Something I envied about Jason as a batsman was he had a solid defence and he made the opposition bowlers earn his wicket. I wasn’t in Chittagong in 2006 when Dizzy scored 201 not out in his final Test after being sent out as night watchman. He racked up his first-ever hundred with a cover drive and it was the team’s masseuse Lucy Frostick who mentioned the possibility of him scoring a double ton as she worked on his muscles after stumps. Dizzy said he realised that the pitch had a few runs in it and—with the urging of Michael Hussey—he didn’t throw his wicket away, and created a great piece of history when he struck a boundary. Jason, who retired as the nation’s sixth highest Test wicket-taker with 259 wickets from his 71 Tests, deserves to be acknowledged as an outstanding Australian bowler. He said perhaps the most surreal moment of a double ton, however—apart from scoring the runs—came after the match when he was quizzed by journalists about his batting. I would have loved to witness it—the party the boys would have had on the roof of their hotel to celebrate Dizzy’s milestone would have been one for the ages!
Depending on which side of the ledger you sat, Jason was either my brother in arms or my partner in crime because between us we have the most wickets for an opening combination for Australia. When you think of the Lillee–Thomson and Lindwall–Miller combos, it’s quite a decent record to share. Dizzy was a quality bowler, he bowled from a good height, he got bounce and seam movement, and he could get the ball through at a good pace. If anything he should have taken more wickets than his final tally, and I am the first to acknowledge that the way he bowled helped me get my many wickets. Jason bowled similar to me but he was quicker, and when the ball did something off the wicket the batsman couldn’t adjust so he had a lot of play and misses rather than nicks. In my case, since I wasn’t as quick, if the ball seamed off the wicket the batsman had enough time to adjust, allowing for the ball to find the edge. He was made to work hard as a member of the national team because he was given the job of running uphill, or bowling into the wind. Steve Waugh had plenty of confidence in his ability and it was justified. I remember him as a great bowler who, while he was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2002, was the unsung hero of the Australian team. His effort to take 7–37 against England at Headingley during the 1997 Ashes series was described by some as a genuinely ‘terrifying’ display of fast bowling during his 13.4 overs. It was something special and England, who’d been chugging along at 2–103, were bundled out for 172.
He suffered a terrible broken leg when he and Steve Waugh collided trying to take a catch off Colin Miller’s bowling during the First Test against Sri Lanka in Kandy in 1999. It was ugly and poor old Dizzy didn’t realise how bad the damage was until he tried to stand up. Steve had a badly busted nose and they were both taken away in a panel van to the local hospital before a helicopter, which was generously arranged by Sanath Jayasuriya, spared them a bumpy five-hour drive to Colombo. Dizzy had his leg in a cast that went from his foot to his upper thigh and while I felt gutted for him I never had any doubts whatsoever about him returning strong and savage. Since his life after cricket Jason has made a mighty impression as a coach by guiding the tradition-steeped English County team, Yorkshire, to its first County Championship victory in 13 years. When the English team’s head coach, Peter Moores, and the England and Wales Cricket Board parted ways after they failed to qualify for the quarterfinals of the 2015 World Cup, Dizzy was mentioned in despatches as a possible replacement. As the unofficial chairman of the old Australian Fast Bowlers Cartel, I thought, Good luck, I hope you get it—he definitely wasn’t going to be stripped of his membership. I believe Jason has the traits needed to be a successful coach: he’s a good and honest bloke, he’s very good with people and is obviously a good manager, and that’s important because at international level the job isn’t about teaching people how to play cricket, it’s about extracting the best out of them. That’s something Jason has been doing since he was a 17-year-old who was razzed by his mates in the Adelaide Cricket
Club’s C-grade when they heard him say he would represent South Australia by the time he was 19, and Australia when he was 21. He was called by his mates the ‘Lion of Adelaide’ and he responded by marking out a long run-up at training and raining fire and brimstone upon them. The club coach noticed and because he liked what he saw, Dizzy was named to make his A-grade debut. Jason said that ‘Lion’ sledge made him hit the ‘go’ button and he devoted himself to making the cut. As a bloke who benefited enormously from his presence I’m glad that he did.
ANDY BICHEL
I thought, well, I’m going all right at cricket why don’t I give it a try and go to Brisbane and have a crack at it. It was the best thing I ever did. I played three grade games then played for Queensland so I was very, very lucky. If you have got some ability, instead of sitting back and wondering whether I should or shouldn’t have tried, you can always go and have a go for two or three years in grade cricket and then you can come back. Your club will still be there and you can join back in and maybe pick up that job you left behind and carry on. I think I was given those opportunities and you only have to ask and you might receive, so you just never know.
—’BIC’’S ADVICE TO COUNTRY CRICKETERS, 2013
Full name: Andrew John Bichel
Nickname: Bic
Birthdate: 27 August 1970
Birthplace: Laidley, Queensland
Major teams: Australia, Queensland, Essex, Hampshire, Worcestershire
Role: Bowler
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm, fast-medium
Cricket relatives: Uncle, Donald Bichel (Queensland) Cousin, Chris Sabburg (Queensland)
TESTS: 19
Test debut: Australia v West Indies at Adelaide, 25–28 January 1997
Last Test: Australia v India at Adelaide, 12–16 December 2003
Test wickets: 58
Best bowling in an innings: 5–60
Best bowling in a match: 6–125
Five wickets in an innings: 1
Average: 32.24
Strike rate: 57.5
Test of Will Page 15