Brett Lee says Champions League didn't cause injury

Brett Lee has refused to blame the Champions League Twenty20 for the elbow injury that prevented him from bowling his full quota in the first ODI against India and kept him out the next game. His remarks on Thursday followed recent references by his captain and coach to the Champions League disrupting the team's preparations for the tour.

"I don't think it's got anything to do with the Champions League," Lee said. "I want to play as much cricket as I possibly can, and with me missing the Ashes and having four months in England where I was only bowling in the nets and not in Test matches, to me it's about playing a lot of cricket.

"Unfortunately when you're trying to bowl 155kph and you've got back-to-back series, times will come where there'll be a niggle here and there. It's not a long-term thing - a mild thing, and I was pretty much due to have a rest in one or two games of this series anyway."

Ricky Ponting and coach Tim Nielsen have both voiced their displeasure of the scheduling of the series over the last week. Nielsen though, called Lee's injury a "stress-related" one, and Ponting rued the absence of six of his players while preparing for the seven-ODI series, due to the Champions League. Australia almost lost the first game in Vadodara from a winning position, and were outplayed in the second in Nagpur.

That said, Lee's performance in the final of the Champions League was instrumental in New South Wales winning the title and he said he had no second thoughts about playing for his home state. "That's [NSW] where I was born, that's what I'm all about. I had the opportunity to play and I thought it would be the perfect lead-in to the series over here. If I didn't play the series, would I have picked up a niggle? Who knows, but all I can say is I'm enjoying my cricket and Australia always comes first."

Lee has not ruled himself out for the match in Delhi on Saturday. "I think I'll know a lot more tomorrow at training," he said. "I'm not going to make a call today to say whether I'll be available for the weekend or not. I'm hoping to be, but I'll know a lot more at training.

"It's important for me to get it right, to make sure I'm not playing with pain, so I'll have a bowl tomorrow and assess how the elbow feels, and then take it from there. I'm wanting to play on Saturday, definitely."

Lee also said he was desperate to make a comeback into the Test side. "I'm as hungry as ever to get back in that Test team," he said. "The only thing I can do at this point is prove I'm bowling fast and taking the wickets, and other than the game I missed yesterday, I'm hoping I've done that. I was pleased with how I played in England, pleased with the Champions Trophy and even more so pleased with how I did in the Champions League. I want to have a big series here, and it's up to them if they want to choose me or not.

"I still want to play Test cricket, definitely. I want my spot back and I'll be doing everything I possibly can to get it. I had the ankle operation earlier this year, got back to full fitness, and have been very pleased with the way the ball's been coming out.

"I don't think I can ask any more of my body, I'm still only young. Yes I'm 32, but I keep saying I don't feel 32. You will have your niggles as a fast bowler, but I still want to play a lot more years of cricket, and definitely be playing at Test level. One-day cricket and T20 of course, that's always been thereabouts, but Test cricket for me is where it's at."