Brett Lee
Few bowlers in international cricket have been able to survive as many injuries and forge a successful career as Brett Lee has done for well over a decade. Since his debut, Lee stood out for his aggression and pace and was an integral part of Australia's exceptional bowling attack. Even in the last two years, when he was well and truly struggling with his fitness, Lee never allowed his pace to drop. He ended his ODI career as Australia's joint-highest ODI wicket-taker along with Glenn McGrath. Lee played in two World Cups (2003 and 2011) and was the second-highest wicket-taker in the 2003 World Cup which Australia won without losing a single game. While Lee's Test stats are good, it is his performance in ODIs that sets him apart. With 23 hauls of four wickets or more, Lee is joint-third behind Waqar Younis and Muttiah Muralitharan on the list of bowlers with the most four-plus wicket hauls. Although he figured in only 25 Twenty20 internationals, Lee became the only bowler to pick up hat-tricks in ODIs and Twenty-20 internationals.
The stand-out aspect of Lee's ODI career is his strike-rate. While Shane Bond is marginally better, Lee has maintained a stunning strike-rate of 29.4 over a much higher number of matches (221). In 2012, Lee was plagued by injuries and his form dropped considerably. While his average and strike-rate went up to 30.60 and 33.4, his economy-rate also rose to 5.48. In matches before the start of 2012, Lee's strike-rate was the best among bowlers with 100-plus wickets (29.1). In 201 innings (till the start of 2012), Lee picked up four or more wickets 23 times. His rate of innings per four-plus wicket haul (8.73) is the best among bowlers with 15-plus four-fors in ODIs.
Throughout his career, Lee played in an Australian team that won nearly every major tournament. Remarkably, 297 of Lee's 380 wickets came in wins. The percentage of wickets in wins for Lee (78.15) is second only to McGrath, who picked up 301 of his 381 wickets in wins (79%). McGrath's relatively injury-free career meant that he played in all matches of the three World Cups that Australia won between 1999 and 2007. Lee, however, was able to play in only one tournament (2003) and missed out on the 2007 edition. The table of bowlers with highest percentage of wickets in wins is, not surprisingly, dominated by Australian and South African bowlers. Lee is followed by Shaun Pollock and Shane Warne, who picked up 73.79% and 73.03% of their wickets in ODI wins.