Brett Lee out of first one-day match against Windies

That opens the door for New South Wales left-armer Nathan Bracken to make his debut in Australia’s opening match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He was a surprise inclusion in the 13-man squad for the opening four matches of the tournament.

Lee was included in the squad but he won’t know his immediate fate until tomorrow as medical staff refuse to risk him ahead of a hectic year which includes lengthy tours of India and England.

Lee hasn’t bowled since taking three wickets in six balls to complete Australia’s second-Test win over the Windies in Perth more than four weeks ago when he was diagnosed with bone stress in his lower back.

“If the scans indicate that Brett’s okay then he’ll be eased back into net bowling first with a view to missing the first game” Australian team physiotherapist Errol Alcott said. “That would maybe leave him ready to play in Brisbane but we want to have a good look at how he goes this week.” Lee’s Test bowling partner Jason Gillespie will also miss the opening matches with a hamstring tendon problem but the South Australian is expected to be available for the latter part of the series.

Gillespie was left out of the squad after complaining of tiredness during Australia’s fifth Sydney Test win yesterday but Alcott said it was unrelated to the problem which prevented the injury-plagued quickie from playing in the first Brisbane Test.

“This is lower down but it’s crept up on us a bit,” Alcott said. “It’s not that serious but it requires rest and treatment and we’re looking at two weeks to start with.

Captain Steve Waugh said Australia was determined to stamp out the sluggish transition from Test to one-day cricket which cost the team in the last two seasons.

Australia have lost their opening game of the triangular series for the past three seasons, including a comprehensive 45-run loss to Pakistan last January. That remains the only match Australia have lost at home in any form of cricket for the past two seasons.

Squad: Steve Waugh (captain), Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain), Michael Bevan, Nathan Bracken, Ian Harvey, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh.