Star Australian paceman Brett Lee confirmed yesterday that the breakdown of his marriage was behind his decision to miss the upcoming one-day series against Bangladesh.
Cricket Australia (CA) announced on Wednesday that Lee would miss the three-match series for personal reasons, and rumors immediately surfaced that it was because his two-year marriage to Liz Kemp was over.
A number of newspaper reports yesterday pointed to marital problems and the 31-year-old confirmed that was the reason in a brief statement released through CA.
“We have been caught by surprise as to how quickly our situation has become public,” Lee said in the statement. “It is with regret that I confirm today’s media reports are correct and that Liz and I have decided to separate. Given the personal nature of the matter I ask that you please respect our privacy as we attempt to deal with this sensitive situation.”
Lee said he would be making no further comment on the issue.
He and Kemp married in June 2006 in a lavish ceremony, after Lee proposed to the podiatrist on a tour of South Africa.
Their son, Preston, was born later that year.
The Daily Telegraph reported that the relationship had been on the rocks for a couple of months, the news breaking just days after the fast bowler launched his own brand of men’s underwear.
In a surprise move, Lee was replaced for the three-match series by Tasmanian Brett Geeves, who has not previously played for Australia.
Australia were already without captain Ricky Ponting for the series, while he recovers from wrist surgery.
Opener Matthew Hayden has been named for the series, despite lingering concerns over an Achilles injury.
All three matches will be played in Darwin, on Aug. 30, Sept. 3 and Sept. 6.
The series is currently scheduled to be followed by the troubled Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when the defending champions on board LawConnect won the race in the early hours of yesterday morning, as it came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race. LawConnect, a 100-foot super maxi skippered by Australian tech millionaire Christian Beck, sailed up the River Derwent at just after 2:30am.
‘BOWLINE’ AND ‘ARCTOS’: Roy Quaden was hit on the head by a boom, while Nick Smith was struck by the main sheet and thrown across the boat amid rough seas Two sailors have been killed in separate incidents in the treacherous Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, officials said yesterday, as a string of yachts retired in powerful winds and high seas. One of the crew members, 55-year-old Roy Quaden on Flying Fish Arctos, was hit on the head by a boom as the fleet raced down the New South Wales coast, race organizers said. The other man, 65-year-old Nick Smith, was struck by the main sheet aboard Bowline and thrown across the boat, said David Jacobs, vice commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. “Unfortunately, he hit his head on the winch, and
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