The positive Thinker Brett Lee

Full name Brett Lee
Born November 8, 1976, Wollongong, New South Wales
Current age 31 years 331 days
Major teams Australia, Kings XI Punjab, New South Wales
Nickname Bing
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast
Height 1.87 m
Relations Brother - S Lee


Test debut Australia v India at Melbourne, Dec 26-30, 1999
Last Test West Indies v Australia at Bridgetown, Jun 12-16, 2008
ODI debut Australia v Pakistan at Brisbane, Jan 9, 2000
Last ODI West Indies v Australia at Basseterre, Jul 6, 2008

Profile

Brett Lee is determined that age and injury shall not weary him. Always positive and flashing a smile from a toothpaste advertisement, he insists his body "still feels really young", but after years as Australia's youthful pin-up he has entered fatherhood and his early 30s. At first there was the pace, but then came the injury and a long layoff. It is a recurring theme in Lee's career as he has aimed for numbers that would result in licence suspensions on any Australian road. His speed thrills, but after overcoming a second serious ankle problem in 2007, there is no guarantee he will be able to continue slamming his foot down. Despite planning a post-cricket career in Bollywood - he already has a hit song with You're The One For Me and is learning Hindi - Lee is confident of delaying the all-singing, all-dancing routine for a few more seasons.

One difference in his recovery last year was Australia needed his return to health. Previously Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie provided the cover, but the changes in the attack left Lee as the main man. And he excelled. Against Sri Lanka he was Man of the Series for his 16 wickets, another 24 came against India and by the time the West Indies campaign was over he had 58 Test victims at 21.55 in the post-McGrath era. The Allan Border Medal was another reward, along with the Test Player of the Year prize and the Pura Cup, which he helped seal with 97, his highest first-class score.
Over the past few years Lee's outlook has matured - essential variety has been added to the bouncer-yorker method - and he has become consistent to the point where the team analysts struggled to log a bad ball in some 2006-07 Ashes innings. Twenty England wickets helped him move on from the 2005 defeat, but the summer ended in disappointment when his ankle turned painfully at training in New Zealand.
As Lee completed rehab after an operation to reattach the ligaments, his team-mates reacquainted themselves with the World Cup. Lee was disappointed to miss out, but remained upbeat. "Having a bit of a layoff is good for the body," he said. "Although I'm 30 I still feel like I'm 27 as far as bowling age." When he was really young he was the freshest and fastest at a flicker above or below 100mph, and always seemed on the verge of striking a body or a wicket. When Lee released the throttle and began that smooth acceleration, the spectator stayed his drinking hand. Now the leaping, classical delivery may produce a devastating yorker, a devilish slower ball or a young-Donald outswinger. Add a dash of peroxide, a fruity vocabulary, a trademark jump for joy, a stylish bat, a streak of sadism when bowling at tailenders, a pop group (Six And Out), and an endearing link to a job at a gentleman's outfitters, and you have the 21st century's first designer cricketer - not to mention a priceless pin-up boy.



While Steve Waugh unleashed him in a dramatic opening of 42 wickets in seven Tests before an elbow operation, Ricky Ponting gave Lee a blueprint for lasting success. "The way that Ricky has captained my personal bowling over the last couple of years has just been brilliant," he said early in 2006. "Going back two or three years, I wasn't really sure what they wanted me to do."
Lee's career hasn't always been easy. He struggled against accusations of throwing, bean balls, stress fractures and other injuries, and had a strangely barren first Ashes series in 2001. Three years later he U-turned from ankle surgery, but was stuck in the pits of the dressing room as he ran drinks and sponges in nine consecutive Tests. He came back for the 2005 Ashes series and earned plaudits for his brave performances with bat and ball. He nearly pulled off a win for Australia with a battling 43 at Edgbaston, but his partner-in-crime Michael Kasprowicz fell at the contentious final hurdle. Andrew Flintoff's consoling of Lee seconds after the catch was 2005's defining image.
Less than a year later the duet with Kasprowicz reformed and a nail-biting win over South Africa eased the pain of the previous near-miss. It had been an important summer as he assumed the role of attack leader when McGrath first struggled for impact and then pulled out of tours to South Africa and Bangladesh. Lee moved into the position he had craved since crashing on to the Test scene with 5 for 47 against India, and celebrated 89 international wickets for the season with lawnmower, hunting and leaping celebrations. With McGrath gone for good, Lee has inherited the full-time paternal responsibilities

The Magnificent Damien Martyn

Full name Damien Richard Martyn
Born October 21, 1971, Darwin, Northern Territory
Current age 36 years 341 days
Major teams Australia, Ahmedabad Rockets, ICL World XI, Leicestershire, Western Australia, Yorkshire
Nickname Marto
Playing role Higher middle order batsman
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Height 1.81 m

Test debut Australia v West Indies at Brisbane, Nov 27-Dec 1, 1992
Last Test Australia v England at Adelaide, Dec 1-5, 2006
ODI debut Australia v West Indies at Sydney, Dec 8, 1992
Last ODI Australia v West Indies at Mumbai (BS), Nov 5, 2006

Profile

No contemporary cricketer, Tendulkar aside, made batting look so simple as Damien Martyn. But it was not always thus. For the brash 21-year-old who waltzed into the Australian team at Dean Jones's expense, batting was an exercise in extravagance. To defend was to display weakness - a policy that backfired in 1993-94 when Martyn's airy square-drive at a crucial moment in Sydney triggered a five-run defeat by South Africa and a seven-year hitch to his own promising career.

By the time Western Australia, wanting a pretty face to spearhead their marketing campaign, had made him captain at 23, Martyn looked a tormented man. All the more remarkable, then, that he blossomed into a relaxed, classical, feathery artist. He was an elastic fieldsman and an old-style batsman whose first movement was back. He played with a high elbow, a still head, a golfer's deft touch, and had all the shots, including perhaps the most brutal reverse-sweep in the game.
Mostly, though, Martyn stuck to the textbook and composed pristine hundreds which, like the feats of the best wicketkeepers, passed almost unnoticed: an observation supported by the curious fact that, despite a Test average in the fifties, he reached the age of 30 without winning a Man-of-the-Match award. He was the quiet man of the 2003 World Cup-raising side, too, playing a minor role until he spanked 88 not out in the final - with a broken finger that later kept him out of a West Indian tour. His magnificent 13-month streak of 1608 Test runs at 61 and two Man-of-the-Series prizes from March 2004 finally moved him from the dressing-room shadows to the more uncomfortable limelight. Showing his hard-earned versatility, he crafted seven centuries on surfaces ranging from raging turners in Sri Lanka and India to green seamers in New Zealand and the hard bounce of home.

The flood ended in England and following a series of 178 runs and a couple of horrid umpiring decisions he was the major casualty of the Ashes loss. Retaining a one-day spot, he expected his five-day days were over - "If that's my last Test match, well, I've had a great time" - but was reprieved when the selectors wanted experience for the South Africa tour. As the decision to ignore policy by looking back to a 34 year old became increasingly doubtful, Martyn repaid with a nerveless 101 that led to victory in the final Test. After being a key part in Australia's first Champions Trophy success, he struggled in the opening two Tests of the Ashes series and swiftly retired. In February 2008 he swung another surprise of sorts by announcing he had joined the unofficial Indian Cricket League.

The Speed Merchant Darren Gough

Full name Darren Gough
Born September 18, 1970, Monk Bretton, Barnsley, Yorkshire
Current age 38 years 4 days
Major teams England, Essex, Yorkshire
Nickname Rhino, Dazzler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Height 5 ft 11 in
Education Priory Comprehensive

Test debut England v New Zealand at Manchester, Jun 30-Jul 5, 1994 Last Test England v South Africa at Lord's, Jul 31-Aug 3, 2003
ODI debut England v New Zealand at Birmingham, May 19, 1994
Last ODI England v Pakistan at Lord's, Sep 2, 2006


Profile

Dazzler, extrovert, inspirer, attack leader and England's best strike bowler since Bob Willis and Ian Botham, Darren Gough grew from often-injured good to match-fit great, until a long-standing knee problem curtailed his Ashes campaign in 2002-03 heralding a premature end to his Test career the following summer.
However, he refused to concede his playing days were over and continued in England one-day colours, hanging grimly to a place until he was omitted from the 2007 World Cup Squad. But, not one for a quiet ending, after three years at Essex he returned to Yorkshire as captain on a two-year deal in 2007.

Not blessed with the height of Curtly Ambrose or Glenn McGrath - and thus lacking a stock ball to match - Gough developed other means of claiming wickets by watching, experimenting and learning. In the process he became England's first and foremost exponent of reverse-swing and a fine changer of pace. Just as Fred Trueman needed a straight man in Brian Statham to complement him, so had Gough in Andy Caddick. A showman like Cork, with a softer side, Gough could inspire team-mates and crowds with a diving catch or some daring hitting as well. He had the right chemistry to cause spontaneous combustion, to make things happen and help others play above themselves.
Nobody contributed more to England's four series wins in a row in 2000 and 2000-01 than Gough, who was Man of the Series against West Indies and in Sri Lanka. Succeeding there and in Pakistan, the traditional graveyard of fast bowlers, was the final stage of his development, although even his self-confidence took a battering after England's failure to compete against Australia the following summer.

In need of a rest, he chose to miss England's trip to India, and though selected for the one-dayers in New Zealand, he damaged his knee in the final match - it seemed trivial at the time, but mushroomed into a year of misdiagnosis and aborted comebacks. He was forced out of the Ashes tour and the World Cup, but somehow willed himself back to fitness in time for the 2003 season, when lesser mortals would have accepted their fate. And though he was instrumental in England's NatWest Series victory that summer, he was exposed in Test cricket, from which he retired after a heavy Lord's defeat against South Africa. He was overlooked for the one-day series in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka the following winter, and, in January 2004, he parted company with Yorkshire after 15 years to head to Essex, giving family reasons as the deciding factor.
Gough returned to the international stage in 2004, but was a shadow of his former self - save for a brief stint in South Africa in January and February 2005. Though he still harboured ambitions of playing in the 2007 World Cup, Gough's ebullient personality discovered life after cricket, when he won the BBC talent contest, Strictly Come Dancing. With his World Cup snub the international days ended, and he switched his attentions to nurturing the next generation at Yorkshire. During the second year of his two-year deal he announced it would be his last. Retirement, though, is unlikely to be too quiet.

The Aggressive Kiwi Jacob Oram

Full name Jacob David Philip Oram
Born July 28, 1978, Palmerston North, Manawatu
Current age 30 years 55 days
Major teams New Zealand, Central Districts, Chennai Super Kings
Playing role All-rounder
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Height 1.98 m

Test debut New Zealand v India at Wellington, Dec 12-14, 2002
Last Test England v New Zealand at Nottingham, Jun 5-8, 2008
ODI debut New Zealand v Zimbabwe at Wellington, Jan 4, 2001
Last ODI Scotland v New Zealand at Aberdeen, Jul 3, 2008

Profile

It is hard to miss Jacob Oram on the pitch, and not just because of his 1.98m height. He has a high degree of agility in the field, where his skills were developed as a schoolboy representative soccer goalkeeper, and he complements that with solid medium-fast bowling skills and a naturally aggressive approach with the bat. Foot problems during the summer of 2001-02 meant he missed a season at a vital stage of his development,

but he came back strongly in 2002-03 and sealed a place for himself in both the Test and one-day international sides. In 2003-04, he narrowly missed out on a century, as he struck 97 against Pakistan. But in the first Test against South Africa, he carved 119 not out and then 90 in the second Test, which earned him a touring spot for the England series in 2004. Oram continued to acquit himself well, and maintained his place for the Bangladesh tour in 2004-05. After suffering a stress reaction to a back injury, he missed Australia's tour of New Zealand in 2005 but returned to hit a delightful hundred, his third in Tests, against South Africa at Centurion in April 2006. His one-day game peaked at the CB Series in 2006-07, where his impressive striking rattled both England and Australia.

His first ODI century, an amazing 101 from 72 balls against Australia, almost got New Zealand over the line in a huge run-chase at Perth. He broke the ring finger on his left hand taking a catch on the boundary in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series soon after but made it to the World Cup. His comment that he would 'chop off his finger' to play sparked frenzied reaction in the media but was meant in jest and he went on to average 33 with the bat and 25 with the ball as New Zealand reached the semi-finals. One of five New Zealanders signed up by the IPL when he joined Chennai.

The Record Holder Wicket Keeper From South Africa Mark Boucher

Full name Mark Verdon Boucher
Born December 3, 1976, East London, Cape Province
Current age 31 years 291 days
Major teams South Africa, Africa XI, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Border, Cape Cobras, ICC World XI, Warriors
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Fielding position Wicketkeeper

Test debut Pakistan v South Africa at Sheikhupura, Oct 17-21, 1997
Last Test England v South Africa at The Oval, Aug 7-11, 2008
ODI debut New Zealand v South Africa at Perth, Jan 16, 1998
Last ODI England v South Africa at Cardiff, Sep 3, 2008

Profile

It is a measure of the rapidity of Mark Boucher's rise that no-one is quite sure exactly how many cricketing records he currently holds. Fastest man to a 100 dismissals here, most innings without a bye over the road - they've tumbled out so quickly that it has been difficult to keep up. He also held the record for the highest score by a nightwatchman. Probably his most significant achievement, however, came in only his second Test match, his first on home soil, against Pakistan at the Wanderers in February 1998 when he and Pat Symcox put on 195 to set a new Test ninth-wicket partnership record. The real relevance of this feat lay not so much in its numbers, but in the fact that it was built with South Africa in desperate trouble at 166 for 8.

Boucher had made his Test debut still short of his 21st birthday a few months previously when he was rushed to Sheikhupura to stand in for the injured Dave Richardson. He served his apprenticeship on South Africa's 1997-98 tour of Australia, and took over as the first-choice keeper when Richardson retired at the end of that series. Boucher was not everyone's first choice to succeed Richardson - Gauteng's Nic Pothas had been waiting in the wings for some time - but once Boucher got his hands on the position, he refused to let it go. He found conditions in England difficult, both on the 1998 tour and during the 1999 World Cup, but he demonstrated courage, determination and nous in what became a run of 75 consecutive Tests before he was left out for the tour of India late in 2004. Those qualities brought him three Test hundreds in his first 25 Tests, and earmarked him as a possible future No. 5 or No. 6 batsman. He was also awarded the South African vice-captaincy when Shaun Pollock took over from Hansie Cronje, recognition of his willingness to get down and scrap when his team needs it - and he promised a scrap to regain the wicketkeeping gloves when a form dip eventually did cost him his place.
A brilliant, unbeaten 50 in the most thrilling one-day match ever - against Australia at Johannesburg on March 12 - saw South Africa chase down a record 434 with one wicket to go. In the ensuing three-Test series, displayed fine work behind the stumps and showed his love of a contest against Australia with two fantastic half-centuries and 175 runs at 35. Boucher kept decently in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka and played two gritty fifty-plus knocks even as South Africa fell 2-0. He was appointed captain for the ensuing tri-series also featuring India but played no part as South Africa withdrew after a bomb explosion in Colombo.

Boucher was replaced as captain for a short home series against Zimbabwe but was his side's highest run-scorer at the Champions Trophy in India. He remains a key component to the South African side in both forms of the game, his consistent batting allowing them another all-round option with plenty more challenges ahead as the team chase Australia at the top of the rankings. Against Pakistan in Karachi, 2007, he went past Ian Healy to claim the world record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper. He joined Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince in walking out on the Cobras in 2008 who chose not to pick the trio for their Pro20 season, but put all such issues behind him in England that summer, where he laid the demons of ten years earlier, and helped South Africa to their first series win in England of the post-Apartheid era.

The Classical Aussie Mark Waugh

Full name Mark Edward Waugh
Born June 2, 1965, Canterbury, Sydney, New South Wales
Current age 43 years 108 days
Major teams Australia, Essex, New South Wales
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium, Right-arm offbreak
Relations Brother - DP Waugh, Twin brother - SR Waugh
Test debut Australia v England at Adelaide, Jan 25-29, 1991
Last Test Australia v Pakistan at Sharjah, Oct 19-22, 2002
ODI debut Australia v Pakistan at Adelaide, Dec 11, 1988
Last ODI Australia v South Africa at Perth, Feb 3, 2002

Profile

The twin brother of Steve, Mark Waugh was one of the world's most elegant and gifted strokemakers. His game was characterised by an ability to drive, cut, pull and loft the ball so effortlessly that it could make him look disdainful of the talents of bowlers. Waugh made his name as a middle-order player for New South Wales in the late 1980s, twice winning the Sheffield Shield Cricketer of the Year titles as he built and maintained a first-class average in excess of fifty. Although he lived in the shadow of his more famous brother for a number of seasons, progression to international cricket was inevitable.


The only sour note when his promotion eventually came, for the fourth Test of the 1990-91 series against England, was that it arrived at Steve's expense. Critics took issue with Waugh's apparent loss of concentration at times and his capacity to occasionally succumb to lazy-looking shots. The weakness was on show most evidently during his disastrous 1992-93 tour to Sri Lanka when he scored four successive Test ducks, but it would be hard to find a player more difficult to contain when in full flight. To complement his batting skills, he offered handy part-time bowling as a medium-pacer-cum-offspinner and a remarkable penchant for spectacular saves and catches - he had few rivals to match his freakish brilliance in the field.

His many highlights included a world-record partnership of 464 for the fifth wicket with Steve for New South Wales against Western Australia in 1990-91; his sterling 138 on Test debut; three commanding centuries as an opener at the 1996 World Cup tournament; and 126 to seal the Frank Worrell Trophy in West Indies in 1995. The lowest moment came in late 1998 when it emerged that he and Shane Warne accepted money from an Indian bookmaker during a tour of Sri Lanka four years earlier. A laconic, unassuming character, Waugh announced his retirement from international cricket without fuss in October 2002 after losing his place in the Test squad to play England. He played on for two seasons at New South Wales, but his elegant best was behind him.

Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar

Full name
Shoaib Akhtar
Born August 13, 1975, Rawalpindi, Punjab
Current age 33 years 35 days
Major teams Pakistan, Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan, Asia XI, Durham, ICC World XI, Khan Research Labs, Kolkata Knight Riders, Pakistan International Airlines, Rawalpindi, Somerset, Surrey, Worcestershire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast
Test debut Pakistan v West Indies at Rawalpindi, Nov 29-Dec 3, 1997
Last Test India v Pakistan at Bangalore, Dec 8-12, 2007
ODI debut Zimbabwe v Pakistan at Harare, Mar 28, 1998
Last ODI India v Pakistan at Gwalior, Nov 15, 2007

Profile

Shoaib Akhtar burst onto the big stage in the 1999 World Cup with a long, hurtling run-up and blistering speed. His star status was sealed by a great flop of hair, a talent for show-boating and a vivid nickname - the Rawalpindi Express. But it was too much, too young. A huge ego and his blind ambition to break the 100mph barrier seemed to matter more to him than cementing his place in the Pakistan side, and in November 2006, he copped a two-year ban for using the banned substance, Nandrolone, but he was reprieved on appeal to the undisguised disgust of international drugs agencies.
It was the latest, but by no means the only, controversy in his chequered career. The authorities twice sidelined him over throwing allegations and although his action was cleared, courtesy of hyperextensible joints and the University of Western Australia, injuries created fresh doubts over his international future. However, he channelled his enormous resources far better in 2002, turning in two of the most blistering bowling efforts of the year, both against Australia. First, he blitzed them with a spell of 5 for 25 in a one-dayer at Brisbane, and then returned 5 for 21 in a spectacular performance in Colombo that all but won the Test. The 2003 World Cup was far more disappointing, though.

He promised much, but came a cropper, especially in the needle encounter against Sachin Tendulkar. Dropped after the World Cup, Shoaib roared back to form on the tour to New Zealand, but soon after came a forgettable - and controversial - series against India. Not only did he struggle for wickets, he also left the field at a crucial stage of the third Test citing wrist injury and back pain, though neither injury seemed to bother him when he came out to bat. Shoaib felt the heat, as his commitment and his relationship with the captain and the team management came into question as well. The series began a period in which Shoaib's career came under its gravest threat. Mutterings about his commitment were never far away and a difficult relationship with Inzamam and Bob Woolmer the coach didn't make matters easier. He blew hot and cold in Australia, looking Pakistan's most incisive threat for periods but also looking their most disinterested at others. A hamstring injury cut short that tour and a potpourri of fitness, commitment and attitudinal complaints meant he missed most of Pakistan's cricket in 2005.

But, inevitably perhaps, he came back against England, finishing with 17 wickets and proving the difference between the two sides. As well as being at the peak of his powers - a concotion of lethal slower balls, yorkers and bouncers - Shoaib looked a team man to the core. Typically since then he has spent much time on the sidelines, missing tours to Sri Lanka and most of England with a combination of ankle and knee injuries. He returned to play the ODI series against England and seemed back in full flow, before again missing the last match with an injury. At the time, it seemed his rehabilitation at the end of 2005 might become one of the most significant moments in Pakistan's history. But then came the drugs furore, and the realisation it had been too good to be true.
One day captured his essence; he returned against South Africa in Durban in 2006-07, having not been picked for the series initially, took 4 for 36 in 11 overs, set up a Test win, strained a hamstring, argued with the late coach Bob Woolmer, and returned to Pakistan. He was in Pakistan's squad for the 2007 World Cup, but pulled out at the last minute with an injury, though many suggested it was actually because of fears that traces of Nandrolone remained in his system, which might crop up in a dope test during the tournament. It turned out, in hindsight, to be a good tournament to miss.

Shoaib was not picked to represent Pakistan in the Abu Dhabi series against Sri Lanka and was dropped from the Asian squad for the Afro-Asia Cup after being initially selected. He, however, was named in Pakistan's squad for a brief tour of Scotland as well as the squad for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in September 2007. However, a dressing room bust-up with fellow paceman Mohammad Asif resulted in Shoaib being sent back home before the tournament even started, and he was banned the following April for five years. After a brief stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, his ban was reduced to 18 months, though accompanied by a hefty fine.