I agree with your comments Tim.
One line that has not been followed is what if the birth occurred during a match in which Brett Lee was playing and there were complications. How would Brett Lee feel? How would the other players feel? How would the management look if he had to rush away from the match?
I wouldn't wish this situation on anyone, but it does happen.
That said, as an Englishman I'd be sad to see Brett miss any of the tests after playing such a huge role in the series last year.

2 points really.

Firstly, nothing girly about fatherhood. I've served in the Royal Marines and played professional rugby in my time. Fatherhood is harder than both.

Secondly - as one respondant to the first article claimed us poms didn't want Brett to play.

Well, that just isn't the case - we want to beat you Brett, Shane, Glenn, Ricky and all - we don't want you moaning about your missing players when we take the urn back home with us next year.

(Also - wasn't Mr Lee smacked around the park in three of the five tests last year ?)

Paul Clarke

Employed folks take leave from their jobs to be around when their baby is born. Brett Lee knows an approximate date when the baby is most likely going to be born. Instead of keeping everyone, especially his team, guessing, he should just have said "Sorry chaps. I want to be with my family. I will join you for the second test."

Or, he should have said that since there was uncertainty about the exact date of birth, he would play in the test and visit his family after the game.

What he's now done is to try and be too cute, having his cake and eating it too and all that.

What a load of new labour crap. Of course, his priority should be the test match and not new age man bulldust.

The arrival of the first child is life changing indeed, and a father spends the rest of his life appreciating that fact, but it is not like being struck by a thunderbolt in the maternity ward. God willing, Brett can enjoy his child for another half century or so, but he will only be an international sportsman until injury or the selectors make him a former sportsman.

Attending a birth is not all it's cracked up to be, seeing the woman you love in agony and / or being sliced open in emergency circumstances is not recommended. Until recently it was also unheard of. How many people would watch a family member undergo any other medical procedure?

There must be thousands of Dads out there who would sacrifice anything just to have played one Test Match but will never have that chance. Brett obviously appreciates how lucky he is to represent his country for a relatively short time and is right to play.

Let's just hope he bowls a load of rubbish and England get off to a flyer!

For the record, father of two, attended one, missed the other and love 'em both equally to death. Chaps, you don't need to be there, you'll just get in the way!

Tim de Lisle - your article is an interesting summary of the comments posted on your previous post, but I feel you failed to spot the most crucial point mentioned: That which said that by missing a test match Brett may lose his place in the team. How often has this happened, someone gets the chance to play and unexpectedly performs so well the selectors cannot possibly drop them. Andrew Strauss' inclusion at the expense of the injured Vaughan springs to mind. Whilst Vaughan's place was never in question, Hussain realised his time was up. Without that injury to Vaughan, Nasser would certainly have notched up 100 tests.

The question as I see it is just how great is the competition for places in the Aussie line up? Well as they tend to go for 4 bowlers and 2 of them are called McGrath and Warne (players whose places are guaranteed) that leaves every other bowler pushing for 2 spots. Lee's not stupid. One person stated he's played 52 tests and he'll only have one child born for the first time. Well Lee hasn't played 52 tests without a long spell where he wasn't being picked and he worked very hard to get back into a winning team. This series is possibly the biggest he will ever play in. If he misses the first test and his replacements Clarke and McGill for instance put in match winning performances would Australia want to change a winning team? They're trying to win back the Ashes - perhaps not.

Clearly Lee's decision is an indication of how secure he feels his place is, not how girly a man he is etc.

To echo someone else, it must be very hard for us to understand what it is like to be a professional sportsman where your job and career are under threat every day by someone else out performing you!

Mr. de Lisle, you're really trying to defend yourself here, and you have every right to, but really and truly, this IS a matter for Lee and his wife.
When I was born, fathers weren't even allowed in the delivery room and it is still that way in the public hospitals here in Trinidad. I don't hold any type of grudge against my father for not being there and it hasn't affected my life in any way.
My mother had a complicated delivery and my father wasn't allowed to be there to support her, so, by extension, Brett Lee's son wouldn't give two hoots next fifteen years when he learns that.
My mother knew that my father couldn't be there and she understood why, just as Mrs. Lee made her decision to let Brett play.
My point here is, that Lee's main purpose for being in the delivery room is to offer support to his wife as well as witness the birth of the child, but alas, couldn't he witness the birth via a live video link?
Lee could still witness the birth through other means but his presence in the delivery room would be to lend support and it is his wife who consented!
I still stand by my view that it really isn't any of our business to discuss such matters and who knows how painful this decision was for Brett and Liz. People simply cannot sit behind a computer screen and pretend that they can even imagine what the couple must be going through.
It's also unfair to comment on how much Lee cares for his family!

Interesting, to say the least. I personally rate Brett Lee and Younis Khan as two guys who treat the game as just that. It shows in the way these players retain cheerful demeanour on the ground and exchange 'genuine' pleasantries with rival players. And yet both have managed to stir so many people up with a few 'old fashioned' decisions of theirs.

I mean if you asked me 14 days back if Younis Khan would treat national captaincy like Afridi treats his career and if Brett Lee is ready to sacrifice a major personal moment for his professional duties, I would surely reply negatively to both.

Solving a Pakistan conundrum is beyond my abilities but let me explore this mystery....I get a sneaking feeling that the ACB has promised Lee to make these Ashes the first Test series to be played with the white ball.

Tim

I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. I mentioned in my previous response that I would not have missed the birth of my three children for anything!!

This is not entirely true. When I responded I failed to mention that I had been in the British Army and that I was fortunate to be available for the birth of my children and that I could have been asked to give my life (or put it in severe jeopardy!) for the benefit or protection of others (not just my "Team-mates") or Country, but also those unable to defend themselves.

So lets put things in perspective:

Is Brett at war or on active service...no
Is the Ashes life or death...no
Is his wife being entirely honest about his non-appearence...?? That's personal between them!!
Is sport really so important that you miss such a life changing experience...no
Will Brett be dropped...not bloody likely!! Who else do the Aussies have!!
Was I "teary" at the birth of my children...yes and proud of it. witnessing a birth is seeing something miraculous.....witnessing death is not!!

So to those doubters/Non-parents and maybe to the Aussie selectors, who may have put pressure on Brett to change his mind!!

Childbirth/parenthood transcends all boundaries, sport, politics and religion.

Enough said!!

This proves the utter folly in starting a blog focused purely on one topic where the contest doesn't kick in for another 40 days or so. So what we get it Tim commenting on utterly banal ashes 'issues' ( pun intended) like Brett Lee's logistical arrangements. 20 people or so comment and desperately try to make a controversy out of it. The cricket world yawns.

Face it Tim - you started an ashes blog way too early and there isn't that much to write about on a day to day basis so you're scraping the barrel on topics. A general blog where you didn't have to confine the theme to the ashes might have been a better idea.

When you grow up and retire from Test Cricket you are going to still have a long life post cricket and when you tell your eldest child that you werent there when that angel opened his eyes you are going to curse yourself, when u do play the Ashes match the baby would always be on the back of your mind so dont aim for something (ASHES MATCH 1 ) when you can have everything (CHILD AND ASHES MATCH 2).

At http://ashes-countdown.blogspot.com the I Don't Like Cricket Collective fully supports Mr Lee's intention to miss the first Test. We think that he would not be playing his part for the Baggy Greens if his mind wasn't on the job.

See you later Brett. Bye.

K,Tim , I agree wid those who said its Bretts and Lizs business.But ,on my part I hope the baby comes a week before/after the test.Brett has alwys made the best of both worlds,so iam sure even now he will find a way to do so.Hope CA gives him permission to go to Sydney and come back after the boy is born.ITS only an hours flight.

As an avid fan of cricket, as an Australian, and and as a father I cannot believe Brett Lee's priorities are so incredibly misguided.

Putting country before your family?? This is not a war, this is a game of cricket. Yes it is potentially the most important series in my lifetime and Brett Lee's, but lets keep some perspective people.

Not being there for the birth of your child is something you will regret for the rest of your life. It is the most emotional, beautiful, incredible thing that will ever happen to you.

Brett Lee is not essential to us winning the first test. His test record is average, even over the past 12 months. His one day form has indeed been sensational, but in tests he is still often expensive and wayward. We can live without him. His lower order batting has been more valuable than his bowling.

I believe his motives are selfish. He is more afraid of being outshone by a replacement, than any concern over the teams ability to win without him. With Warne, McGrath and potentially McGill bowling he is not needed - the second paceman could be any of half a dozen players.

If his wife is in labour for 24 hours during the test, I doubt his mind will be on the job anyway.

Be there for your family Brett.

i really like the way u write :)

& i think 'girly' should be considered a compliment to the right thinking man!

I can't believe Mr Lee and his wife would let this happen. Anyone with access to a calendar who can count to 9 should've been able to avoid this. That said, I do think that it should be left to Bing and his wife to decide. This will most likely be the biggest series of Lee's career, and he knows just how important his presence is to the Aussie attack, and just how important it is that Australia gets off to a winning start. Going one down in a 5 match series with England only needing a draw to retain is no joke. Obviously, it is the position England recovered from and so it is not impossible, but still... If England win this series I don't think Australia can continue to call itself the number one test nation on Earth.

You are absolutely right Tim ... One of the few pieces from you in this blog that I happen to whole-heartedly agree with ...:)

My God! It really is sad to see the nonsense that's being posted in these comments!
Lee never said he didn't want to be with his wife in the delivery room!
Hopefully, the child will be born a week earlier and Lee can play in the first Ashes test and continue the good form he had during the DLF Cup.
Lee is not the first cricketer to be in this dilemma and he certainly won't be the last.

And please, Tim de Lisle, can we discuss cricket rather than gossiping about Brett Lee and his wife's personal matters.

Tim

Interesting to hear your view that "sport doesn’t exist in a vacuum."

So... should Warney get back together with his wife? Should cricketers have babies out of wedlock? Do you agree with Hayden's religious views? Should a cricketer's wife forgive a husband who cheats on her? Did Shane Watson losing his fiancee to Tom Williams affect his game?

Look forward to you shoving your journalistic nose into these areas, too.

After Brett steam rolls through the England order, he can save the ball and give it to his wife. After the follow on and his second 10-for, he can save the second ball for his newborn.

Man I'm a good problem solver.

"In journalism you skim a lot of stones into pools, and you never know which ones will bounce, which will silently sink, and which will make ripples."
Tim, please say this doesn't mean you were cynically looking for a response to boost your profile. That's crap. Don't do it, cricinfo is better than that, maybe your not, but leave it out while you post here. Not all journalists do it, they really don't.

"Anyone who wrote on that basis wouldn’t last very long as a cricket writer."
HAHAHA, you being serious? C'mon, just read the some of your famous tabloid sport sections, you get bias. The most read journos tap into base human emotions and instincts to get a readership, hence the fact that you taking the moral highground has started a debate much better than talking about selection. In case you haven't noticed, there's a lot of Aussies who want Brett to play because they want us to win the Ashes, so why wouldn't an Englishman's motivation for calling for him to miss the test is to win the Ashes. The fact you can get moralistic and cover it up helps. I'm not saying you definately are hoping Brett changes his mind so you can win the first test, I'm saying its more possible than you are making out.

Brett went public because he had to, its not hard to find out if Liz's expecting and when, and the decision affected his team. He had to give a reason. It should have been open and shut. It probably was for most people. Try and stop continuing a debate about a private family decision. For the record, if it were me, I'd go to the birth. But don't forget this is one of the biggest series of his life. I can definately understand.

Get a life Tim!
Why don't you write something that is actually about the Ashes and not about Brett Lee, his wife and their pregnancy.

Wasn't there an article about Vaughan and Buchanan and something about a smokescreen?
Tell us about that please!
We are tired reading about Brett Lee's private life!

no he will have ramifications in england and other celebrity obsessed countries that care about him not the world. stop the overating.

There seems to be an assumption, in some of the posts here, that Brett Lee isn't that essential to the Australian attack. Maybe those people haven't been paying attention. It's true that he was expensive in the 2005 Ashes series, with variable penetration, but one must remember that Brett's almost permanent status as 12th man in the Australian Test XI, in the months leading up to that series, not only stopped him bowling at test level, it also prevented him playing in most of the Pura Cup games of the summer of 2004-2005. Here was a man - fit, hungry, but lacking first class match exposure - selected for the Ashes based on one day cricket form. I think that showed.
What's happened since, of course, is that Brett has improved and matured as a fast bowler, taking more wickets and starting to lower his bowling average, and he's going to be a very difficult man to face on the Australian pitches this Aussie summer.

With the joy of a new baby at his heels, I think he'll even bowl a couple of yards faster!

I think his batting has improved too...

you wrote:
"One post talked of “girly men”, another of “teary men”. Girly is a bizarre word to try and use as an insult in the context of childbirth."
I wrote the "girly men" comment. You really don't have a sense of humor Tim! I didn't mean "girly men" literally. It was a joke.. a reference to Arnold (governer of california) thought ppl would get the joke.. maybe in the UK you are not familiar with "girly men" term that is so well known in the US as something that arnold loves using.. everybody finds it hilarious and it isn't seen as pejorative towards women..

Lee's place is with his family. He has 52 test match caps but only 1 wife.

Also, his record against England in Tests suggests Australia would be wise to dispense with his services, purely on grounds of form alone... if English batsmen can clatter him around even when he's fully fit and focused on cricket, just how much more are we likely to take off him if his mind's elsewhere?

(Unless he turns out to be one of those players who only CAN perform well when something else matters more to him than the match itself does...)

I agree with some of the folks who have commented to this article. We should let Brett and his wife decide on this very matter. We live in an independent society, let Brett and Liz decide what they want, and respect their decision. Or, in other words, everyone mind their own business! Cheers

Now Tim, this is getting really sad! Why on earth did you dig up that 'Don't marry a cricketer' article? Cricketers are human beings with needs like the rest of us and deserve to enjoy marriage etc. That article is for the old, lonely failures to feel better about themselves. Don't you agree, Tim?

You mentioned all the girly and teary eyed comments but I saw none posted in comments. Most of the people commenting here don't even know what they are talking about.

Did Brett Lee say that he did not want to change his baby's nappies? No. In fact, he refused to even sell pictures of his wedding and impending baby boy when he was offered $150,000. dollars by a magazine. All that to protect his family and you are trying to imply that Brett Lee does not have his priorities straight? The nerve! Certainly Brett would not sell images of his family just for money and that is what we should admire.
Clearly this proves that Brett would not even sell pictures of him changing his baby's nappy just because he wants to protect his family's privacy.

Tim, once again, mind your own business!
You are not the couple's parents. But out of curiosity, do you have a crush on Liz Lee? Interesting to see your concern for her and her marriage to a cricketer.

I agree with the observations about life, cricket and priorities however I find it more than ironic that Brett Lee is being judged by a cricket journalist not on his cricket abilities but on his personal morality. We live in strange times...

just a thought....what if he misses the first test, baby is late, and is born during the second test, or even the third? (3 weeks late is very unlikely, but not totally unheard of). Should he miss those too? If he misses the 1st test, and england go 1 up, should he then miss the birth if its comes during the second test?

Leave him and his wife to make their own choices.

Good Grief! If I was Brett Lee's wife I would do the same. It's just a shame they can't tell you nosy people to mind your own business!