In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five-for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and , only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. Brett Lee has the seventh-highest number of international five-wicket hauls among Australian cricketers as of 2024.The five-wicket haul is defined by the accumulative sum of all formats of the game. A right-arm fast bowler, he is regarded as one of the fastest international bowlers in the modern cricketing era.
Lee picked up a five-wicket haul on Test debut, playing against India in December 1999; a match that Australia won. His career-best figures for an innings were 5 wickets for 30 runs against West Indies at the Brisbane Cricket Ground in November 2005; while never managing to take ten wickets in a single match. Eight of his ten Test five-wicket hauls were taken at home. After capturing 310 wickets, Lee retired from Test cricket in 2010 and remains Australia's fourth-most successful bowler in the format.
After making his One Day International (ODI) debut against Pakistan in January 2000, Lee's first ODI five-wicket haul came in one of the matches of the series against India; the performance ensured Australia's victory. With nine five-wicket hauls, his position is third in the all-time ODI list. His career-best bowling in ODI cricket was 5 wickets for 22 runs against South Africa at Melbourne Cricket Ground in January 2006; his performance earned him the man of the match award. Lee claimed 19 five-wicket hauls in his International career, and Australia never lost any of the games on such instances. However, he never took more than five wickets in a single innings in any format of the international game. Lee played his first Twenty20 International (T20I) against New Zealand in 2005, and is Australia's fourth-highest wicket-taker in the format. He never took a five-wicket haul in T20I, where his best bowling figures remain 3 wickets for 23 runs. Lee announced his retirement from international cricket in July 2012.
Key
Symbol Meaning DateDay the Test started or ODI held InnInnings in which five-wicket haul was taken OversNumber of overs bowled RunsNumber of runs conceded WktsNumber of wickets taken EconRuns conceded per over BatsmenBatsmen whose wickets were taken ResultResult for the Australia team Lee was selected as man of the match
Tests + List of five-wicket hauls by Brett Lee in Test cricket No. Date Ground Against Inn Overs Runs Wkts Econ Batsmen Result 1 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Sadagoppan Ramesh Rahul Dravid Mannava Prasad Ajit Agarkar Javagal Srinath Won 2 Westpac Trust Park, Hamilton Mathew Sinclair Stephen Fleming Nathan Astle Craig McMillan Chris Cairns Won 3 WACA Ground, Perth Sherwin Campbell Ramnaresh Sarwan Nixon McLean Marlon Black Courtney Walsh Won 4 Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane Mathew Sinclair Nathan Astle Craig McMillan Chris Cairns Adam Parore Won 5 Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane Devon Smith Ramnaresh Sarwan Denesh Ramdin Corey Collymore Jermaine Lawson Won 6 WACA Ground, Perth Herschelle Gibbs Jacques Rudolph Shaun Pollock Charl Langeveldt Makhaya Ntini Drawn 7 Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban Graeme Smith Mark Boucher Shaun Pollock André Nel Makhaya Ntini Won 8 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Wasim Jaffer Yuvraj Singh Mahendra Singh Dhoni Anil Kumble Ishant Sharma Won 9 Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua Dwayne Bravo Denesh Ramdin Darren Sammy Jerome Taylor Darren Powell Drawn 10 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Aaron Redmond Jamie How Jesse Ryder Ross Taylor Iain O'Brien Won
ODIs + List of five-wicket hauls by Brett Lee in One Day Internationals No. Date Ground Against Inn Overs RunsWkts Econ Batsmen Result 1 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Sachin Tendulkar Hrishikesh Kanitkar Anil Kumble Javagal Srinath Debashish Mohanty Won 2 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Marcus Trescothick Nick Knight Andrew Flintoff Ian Blackwell Andy Caddick Won 3 St George's Oval, Port Elizabeth Stephen Fleming Brendon McCullum Jacob Oram Andre Adams Shane Bond Won 4 Lord's Cricket Ground, London Kevin Pietersen Andrew Flintoff Paul Collingwood Geraint Jones Ashley Giles Won 5 Docklands Stadium, Melbourne Graeme Smith Boeta Dippenaar Andrew Hall Ashwell Prince Justin Kemp Won 6 Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur Virender Sehwag Sachin Tendulkar Mahendra Singh Dhoni RP Singh Munaf Patel Won 7 Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane Sachin Tendulkar Rohit Sharma Manoj Tiwary Mahendra Singh Dhoni Harbhajan Singh N/RMatch was abandoned due to rain. 8 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Sachin Tendulkar Mahendra Singh Dhoni Robin Uthappa Harbhajan Singh Ishant Sharma Won 9 Lord's Cricket Ground, London Joe Denly Matt Prior Luke Wright Stuart Broad Adil Rashid Won
Notes
References
External links Player profile of Brett Lee at CricketArchive