Shane Lee, a blond-haired, talented allrounder, intermittently captured the attention of his nation's one-day international selectors for several years for his right-arm medium-pace bowling and hard-hitting strokeplay. From his base in Wollongong, Lee showed great potential as a junior: this promise culminating in selection in Australia's Under-19 team in 1991-92. In subsequent years he duly became a particularly skilled performer at interstate level, where his prowess as a clean striker of the ball was in regular evidence. He also enjoyed a productive season of county cricket with Somerset in 1996, topping his team's batting averages, even if his bowling was not altogether suited by the slower and lower conditions. Along similar lines, Lee made a huge impact in his first match in the international arena, raising visions of great things as he struck a whirlwind 39 against West Indies at Adelaide in December 1995. After failing to recapture this form later in the series and again in the 1996 World Cup, though, he was left out of the national side for a period of over two years. Lee renewed his claims to a more permanent position in the Australian side with an excellent 1999-2000 one-day international campaign on home soil, where the focus increasingly turned to his accurate, intelligent bowling. He was also appointed his state's captain in July 2000 and led the Blues in 13 first-class and 14 one-day matches. However, knee troubles limited his appearances throughout much of the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, and led to his early retirement in April 2003, aged 29.
John Polack