Lee eyeing idol Lillee's record

Dismissing rumors of his immediate retirement, Brett Lee has said he still possesses enough firepower to represent Australia for another four -five years, and is also eyeing Dennis Lillee’s haul of 355 Test wickets.

“I am confident in my own mind,” Lee was quoted as saying in Herald Sun.

“If I keep doing the right things, if I look after my body, there is at least another four or five years left in me,” he said.

Brett Lee felt that he lost some crucial playing time due to injuries and also because he wasn’t part of the playing XI for a sizeable time.

“I know I am 32, but the truth is that I have missed a fair bit of cricket with injuries, plus I was 12th man (for the Test side) for 18 months.”

“I only feel 27 or 28 in bowling terms. I’m still improving. I don’t feel I’m ready for that (retirement) just yet,” he said.

Last month during the first Test against New Zealand at Brisbane, opener Jamie How became Australian fast bowler’s 300th Test victim in the latter’s 73rd Test.

After a difficult tour of India, where he took only eight wickets with a high average of over 60, Lee found his form in the two-Test home series against New Zealand and claimed 12 wickets at an average of 21.83.

Now with 309 Test scalps at 30.12 under his belt, Lee is fast approaching towards the elite club of 400-Test wicket bowlers and is also on the verge of overtaking his idol, Dennis Lillee's haul of 355 Test wickets.

“To think I'm about 40-odd wickets from going past Dennis Lillee, I find it hard to comprehend. It feels like yesterday I was playing for the Oak Flats under-8s.”

“Dennis was the bloke I emulated in the backyard. When I was 16, I met him at a fast bowler’s clinic in Sydney. I remember him saying: 'You have good pace, if you stay strong, you never know, one day you might play for Australia,” said Lee.

Brett Lee is the fourth Australian bowler after Shane Warne (708), Glenn McGrath (563) and Dennis Lillee (355) to have taken 300 plus Test wickets. Overall, he is the 23rd member who joins the 300 Test wickets club.

Lee made his Test debut in 1999 against India and now after the retirement of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, he is the front line striker for Australia. The fast bowler was named in the Test and ODI team of the year 2008 at the ICC Awards.