Australian speedster Brett Lee is down but not out. The fast bowler's World Twenty20 ended before it could start with an arm injury, but Lee is determined to make a comeback in the one-day side for the July tour against Pakistan in England.
A shattered Lee departed St Lucia Wednesday but wants to force his way back into the Australian one-day side.
Lee's manager, Neil Maxwell, said the 33-year-old paceman was not considering international retirement following the latest setback - his fifth notable injury in the past 16 months.
"I don't think that he is at that mindset at the moment. There is no doubt this is the home straight (of his career) but he knows that last October-November he was playing the best cricket of his career," Maxwell was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Lee had returned from his elbow surgery too soon in order to play in the Indian Premier League(IPL), where he suffered a broken thumb.
The new elbow injury - unrelated to the previous one - will sideline Lee for up to three weeks, forcing Australia to call Ryan Harris into their World Twenty20 squad.
Team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris, who has devoted much of his time over the years to helping Lee recover from injuries, conceded the fast bowler's body was suffering from a decade of strain in the international arena.
{{/usCountry}}Team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris, who has devoted much of his time over the years to helping Lee recover from injuries, conceded the fast bowler's body was suffering from a decade of strain in the international arena.
{{/usCountry}}"It would be very, very hard, I would imagine. In the last 12 months he has hardly played and he has had four different injuries (not including the broken thumb)," Kontouris said.
"He had ankle surgery early last year, he had that side strain in England, and then he got that elbow injury after that. One is sort of a consequence of another. The common factor is he has got to come back and he has got to do something that is very difficult to do at the best of times, and he's trying to do it with a body that is being rehabilitated."
"You have to try to manage it as best as possible. But that's what happens when you push your body to the limit. Sometimes things don't work for you," Kontouris said.