Australia’s bowling attack is currently one of the most dangerous in world cricket, and cricket legend Brett Lee has declared the current attack led by Pat Cummins as Australia’s best ever. Brett Lee has said that the current combination of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood has now overtaken his own famous Australian attack from the early 2000s.
Apart from this firepower, Scott Boland has been an excellent backup whenever Hazlewood has been out, making the Australian bowling attack more dangerous. For the third Ashes 2025-26 Test in Adelaide, Cummins and Lyon will return to the Australian team to form an ideal bowling unit.
Brett Lee calls modern Australian attack the best in history
If we look at the statistics, Cummins, Starc, Lyon and Hazlewood have played a total of 389 Tests and taken an incredible 1,586 wickets. Three of them – Cummins, Starc and Lyon – have already crossed the 300-wicket mark, while Hazlewood has 295, and will easily join them in the exclusive club once he returns from injury.
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When these four have played together in 35 Test matches, Australia have won 22, lost nine and drawn four, taking a record 567 wickets. However, Boland has been exceptional since his Test debut in 2021, taking 69 wickets at an average of 18.17, which is the best bowling average of any bowler in the last 90 years in the longest format of the game.
In comparison, Australia’s famous bowling group of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee in the early 2000s played 16 Tests together, taking 1,842 wickets and winning 10 of those 16 matches. While that attack was a key part of Australia’s dominance during that era, Lee believes the current bowlers have taken it to a new level in both skill and consistency.
Australian bowlers work in perfect harmony
The strength of the current attack comes from how each bowler complements the other. Lyon brings mastery of control and spin, Starc adds a dangerous left-arm angle, Hazlewood provides swing and bounce, and Cummins can adapt and create pressure around his strengths.
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This mix allows them to work perfectly together, with each bowler enhancing the impact of the other, making it extremely difficult for any batting lineup to score independently. On the other hand, conditions have also changed over the years and the Australian bowlers have adapted brilliantly.
And most importantly, they understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and can seamlessly adjust strategies on the field. And now Boland has also become an important part of the current Test setup, adding depth whenever he gets a chance to play.
I will put them above me: Brett Lee
AAP quoted Lee as saying, “I think they are the best ever. It’s different eras, and it’s hard to compare, but I would put them above me. If you look purely at the statistics, everyone has taken more than 250 Test wickets, and that has never been done before.”
If Scott Boland is included, he is a bit like Michael Kasprowicz; He didn’t really get a chance but he is an amazing bowler. These guys are so good that the Australian public won’t recognize how good they are until they’re gone.”
