Australian legend Brett Lee says Billy Stanlake must be unchained to realise massive potential

Rare tearaway Billy Stanlake must be let off the chain to bowl as often, as fast, as he’s capable, says Brett Lee as Australia enters a new high performance era.

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As Australia turns a new high performance page, Brett Lee says Billy Stanlake must be unchained and allowed to run wild or risk nobbling its rare tearaway.

Lee watched Stanlake become a protected species as sports science boffins counted his balls bowled while cocooning the 204cm beanpole from first-class ranks.

South African superstar Kagiso Rabada is five months younger than Stanlake, 24, but bowled 14,626 more competitive deliveries to become the game’s premier young spearhead.

“Let the kid play. It is so frustrating. They go ‘we are watching his balls because he might get injured’.

He will get injured if you wrap him up in cotton wool, Lee told The Advertiser.

“Billy has pace to burn, a great action, massive, bowls 150km/h, shapes the ball away.”

Stanlake should front for Australia in Saturday’s one-off Twenty20 clash against South Africa on the Gold Coast. However, the Hervey Bay-born quick hasn’t been sighted since taking five wickets at 11.4 on lifeless pitches against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates for Australia last month.

Lee warned Stanlake — who has played 48 fewer first-class matches than Rabada — won’t learn red ball resilience or find range and rhythm sitting in the stands.

“The reason why, if he has been a little bit inconsistent is that he hasn’t had any match play.

Billy Stanlake is seen during a training session at the WACA in Perth. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Wainwright

“You can’t sit on the bench and come back a few weeks later and expect to bowl 150km/h on the spot,” said 310-wicket Test legend Lee of Stanlake, who played his last Sheffield Shield game for Queensland three years ago.

Stanlake, is crucial to Australia’s Test future beyond Mitchell Starc as express pace wins games in Australia.

“Billy can go as far as he wants. He is a great asset for world and Australian cricket but you can’t keep pegging a guy back and back and then put him in,” Lee said.

“We want guys over 150km/h here in Australia.

“We have guys who can do it if they are allowed to. It is training and preparation.

“I am sick of people saying 135km/h is quick, it is not good pace.

“The guy has to play, you have to bowl and bowl and bowl him because the best way not to get injured is to get bowling fit.”

Pat Howard’s old Cricket Australia high performance regimen was slammed for a restrictive workload policy. Counting balls is a foreign concept to Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis.

Rabada — with 151 Test victims in 31 Tests — is first port of call when “the going gets tough” for pragmatic du Plessis.

“I bowl them as long as I want. Last year Rabada bowled extreme overs, three times the amount of anyone else. That is purely because he is a weapon for me as captain,” said du Plessis.

Lee has railed against bulking up in the gym pointing to Pat Cummins’ lean mean physique as the prototype for express bowlers.

“I like the look of Pat Cummins, trimmed right down, got off the weights, bowling gas,” said Lee.

“I hated resting. Play as much as you can while you can.”