BRETT LEE FEELS HE CAN BOWL WITH SAME VENGEANCE ON HIS RETURN

Australian paceman Brett Lee feels he will be able to bowl with same vengeance on his return to international cricket despite being ruled out of action due to a fourth ankle operation. Australia’s strike bowler Lee has seemed like a pale shadow of himself in the past couple of series. To make matters worse, he sustained an injury in the Melbourne Test. However, in a brave attempt to avoid defeat, he bowled with a broken foot in the second innings. He underwent left ankle surgery on Saturday to correct the long-standing problem. The surgery involved the removal of bone fragments that had been causing pain at the back of the ankle. The operation has ruled him out of the one-day series and Australia’s tour to South Africa but the 32-year-old is confident of making a strong comeback. "I wasn't as strong as I probably should have been and I probably wasn't bowling the way I should have been,” he told Sky Sports. "It is an opportunity to spend a whole lot more time now, get away from cricket, get my fitness right, get my body right and look forward to a lot more cricket," he told Sky Sports. "Things happen for a reason and I think it is more of a challenge and a chance to get my body right. The fast bowler expressed that he is positive about being able to bowl with the same fire power as he did a year ago. I am going to get through about a five to six week period and then re-assess after that. Get back into walking, get back into running, do all my fitness and make sure I am really really strong and get back to my 150 clicks again." The New South Wales bowler insists he still has plenty to offer the team which is lacking experience without its strike bowler. 

"I have been through four of these (operations) now ... I know that I can overcome it and I am looking forward to the challenge," he added. "I want to offer a few more years of cricket and I know that I can offer that. It is going to be a challenge, it is going to be hard work, and there is no doubting that. But I know that if I do put my mind to it I do really want to come back and play for Australia,” he added.