His international career derailed by one injury breakdown after another, Australian pacer Brett Lee says he is unsure about his future and may never bowl again.
After coach Tim Neilson virtually shut the Test door on Lee by saying that his future lay in ODIs, the 33-year-old pacer said he might be forced to make the hard choice if he fails to recover completely from the elbow surgery he underwent in December last year.
“As far as my cricket goes, anything is possible. You can read into it what you want, but I may play one-dayers, or no cricket at all,” Lee told The Daily Telegraph .
“I may never bowl another ball again, and if that’s the case I’m so satisfied with my career and my longevity. I’m not saying it’s definitely over, but I’m not sure what I want to be just yet,” he added.
Lee conceded that his career is at the crossroads and he is confused about his priorities.
“To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure what I still want to do at this point in my cricketing life. I need to get to the stage where, if I want to, I can do what I need to do on the field.
“If it’s the case that I don’t play again, well that’s the case. There is a part of me that would like to play some sort of cricket again. But what kind of cricket that is, I don’t know,” he said.
He has endured 12 injuries on his body in a 13-year career, but Lee said the latest elbow problem has been the most painful.
“This has been the hardest surgery I’ve been through. It’s certainly been the most painful,” Lee said.
“There’s no miracle treatment for me. It’s taking time. I still don’t know when I’ll be able to bowl again. I can’t even give you an exact time.
“I will see how the arm pulls up because I can’t achieve any aspirations in cricket moving forward unless my body is functional,” he added.
Lee said whatever he decides, he would confide in skipper Ricky Ponting before taking a final call.
“I’ll keep it mainly in-house than talk to the team, but at some stage I will sit down with Punter (Ponting), if that’s needed. “I’m making a lifestyle decision here as opposed to a cricketing one and I’ll see what comes out of it.”
