British television personality Piers Morgan has been forced to re-live his infamous Melbourne net session with Brett Lee that left him with broken ribs, a broken wrist and a bruised ego.
Morgan had been particularly outspoken during England’s disastrous 2013-14 Ashes campaign, criticising both Graeme Swann and Jonathan Trott for leaving the tour early.
“Two players given up, and the Ashes lost…all before Christmas. What a complete and utter shambles,” he said at the time.
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“Graeme Swann’s been a great player for England, but it’s not ‘courageous’ to quit an Ashes series before it finishes. It’s selfish.”
Challenged to put up or shut up, Morgan found himself facing an over from Lee, who took 310 Test wickets, in the nets during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/414592418609000448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/414592048054812672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
During an appearance on Nine’s Today, Morgan was shown the ‘highlights’ of the net session, that left him battered and bruised.
“Someone said to me, how’s it going in Sydney? I went, well the weather’s great, but actually the good news is I haven’t had my ribs broken yet by Brett Lee,” Morgan said.
“Which was, as my sister described it, the nearest thing to a public stoning she’d ever witnessed.”
When the footage was shown, Morgan joked that he still hadn’t recovered.
“This is going to give me PTSD,” he said.
“He tried to kill me.
“The third (ball) broke my rib. I was wearing this massive guard over my front, and then the fourth (ball) hit the broken rib.
“And Brett Lee ran down and went, ‘Oh mate, did you hear that one crack!’
“I was like, you are a psychopath!”
England’s fortunes in Australia haven’t improved since then, they’ve lost 13 of their last 15 Tests in this country, with only draws in Melbourne in 2017-18 and Sydney in 2021-22 breaking Australia’s winning streak.
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