Agence France Presse

Wellington, February 27:

New Zealand cricket coach John Bracewell warned on Sunday that Australian speedster Brett Lee risked being taken to court if he continued to fire down beamers.

Bracewell was irked by Lee’s waist-high full toss to Brendon McCullum in the third one-day international in Auckland on Saturday. A furious McCullum confronted Lee mid-pitch after being struck on the arm, and while the incident was later resolved with an apology, Bracewell was not happy.

“It is the fourth time this season that he’s beamed one of our guys. He’s been apologetic every time he’s done it,” Bracewell said.

“He was apologetic when he came round the wicket and did it to Chris Harris, and Paul Wiseman, and he’s apologised twice to Brendon. I’m not sure if he apologised to Pakistan’s Abdur Razzaq. That’s a lot of apologies.”

The New Zealand coach Bracewell claimed Lee might set a precedent for cricket if he seriously injured someone with a beamer on Australian soil.

Lee cracked Michael Papps on the head with a bouncer, forcing him to retire hurt, was contrite afterwards. He said the heavy dew caused his feet to shift on delivery stride and he lost control against McCullum. “Unfortunately the ball came out and it hit him, thank God it didn’t hurt him,” Lee said.