Australia find Brett Lee adding to the team woes, injuries and lack of firepower has dropped the defending World Champion’s from the apex in the ICC ODI team rankings - the speedster has been ruled out of the upcoming World Cup in West Indies with an ankle injury (and will be replaced by Stuart Clarke). He tore the ligament in his left ankle during a practice session ahead of the second ODI in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy and since not recovered.
Lee has been the most lethal bowler in cricket of late; he has very competently shouldered the responsibility and has emerged as a strike bowler for the Aussies in McGrath’s absence - Lee like the other fitness strugglers (Symonds, Ponting and Clarke) will be severely missed (he took 22 wickets in the last world cup). Though Ponting and Clarke are expected to hit fitness before the commencement of the mega event, there still remain risen eyebrows over Symonds.
Australians perhaps are the World Champs but they are the most vulnerable when it comes to setting massive targets and then defending them - over the past year they have conceded three highest run chases while two of them came in the just concluded serious in New Zealand.
Read: Cricinfo
