‘Breaking’ news: Bret Lee out of world cup!

According to cricinfo,

Stuart Clark will replace Brett Lee in Australia’s World Cup squad after Lee was ruled out with an ankle injury. Lee saw an orthopaedic surgeon today but the problem, which occurred during a training fall in Wellington last week, had not improved and his recovery is expected to take up to three months.

read full story here.

Of course Australia is gutted with this news… and other teams breathing a sigh of relief. Stuart Clarke, his replacement is no mug with the ball… he’s actually quite good (though his recent form may not be that great). Yet Lee is Lee. (interestingly, Lee was quite upset with his earlier exclusive. This blog-entry has that story)
While some may feel that Australia will miss Bret Lee’s lower order batting, his batting ODI average is actually quite ordinary (under 10 this season). Considering that the AUSSIES are doing well enough without his batting… making 300+ scores consistently… we know that is not the area he is most needed. Where he IS needed is ’shock and awe’… and suddenly… the Aussie attack looks that much less scary.