Cricketer Brett Lee and wife Liz Kemp split

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Cricketer Brett Lee and wife Liz Kemp split



AUSTRALIAN fast bowler Brett Lee has pulled out of this month's one-day series against Bangladesh because of the breakdown of his marriage.
Lee, 31, and podiatrist wife Liz Kemp, 31, have separated after just two years together.

The move has prompted Lee to pull out of this week's Australian team training camp in Brisbane and the three-match one-day series against Bangladesh in Darwin, beginning later this month.

"Brett needs time to work through things," a close friend of Lee said.

"Obviously, it's a tough time for him."

It's understood the marriage had been in trouble for several months.

Lee spent a large part of his cricketing life as a single man and his focus was never on being in a relationship.

But that changed when he met the beautiful Kemp. Their relationship blossomed on 2005 Ashes tour and Lee popped the question while on tour in South Africa in early 2006.

He capped off playing his 50th test and taking his 200th wicket in Durban by presenting Kemp with a ring made with South African diamonds.

The pair was married in a lavish ceremony at the country house of broadcaster Alan Jones at Fitzroy Falls, near Bowral, NSW, in June 2006.

Son Preston was born on the eve of the Ashes opener in Brisbane five months later.

Lee has emerged as arguably the premier fast bowler in world cricket in the past year, and had attributed a lot of his success to being in a loving relationship and being a proud dad.

"Liz has had a great influence on me and having a family has really helped my cricket," Lee said last year.

Before they were married, friends said Kemp, who originally came from Queensland, quit her job at Double Bay in 2005 to "get married and have babies".

Lee's immediate cricketing future is now in doubt.

Once the Bangladesh series is over, the pin-up quick will need to decide whether he mentally can cope with being on the road for the Champions Trophy tournament and then four gruelling Tests in India.