Brett Lee may be the fastest bowler in the game but recently he's been better known as the most expensive drinks waiter in the history of the game having not featured in a Test since January 2004.
The man described as a "once in a generation" bowler by Steve Waugh, has not played a five-day game since Ricky Ponting took over the captaincy, reflecting his less aggressive attitude to leading the side.
The Australian selectors have favoured the more prosaic gifts of Michael Kasprowicz and Test cricket has been robbed of Lee's beautifully athletic run up to the crease and his theatrical fist-pumping celebrations of wickets taken.
Instead Lee has had to settle for being the most devastating strike bowler in one-day cricket. He has always viewed ODIs as "auditions for the Tests" and, that being the case, his performances in the games prior to the Ashes merited a Test place.
During the NatWest Challenge he became the second fastest man to reach 200 ODI wickets, and bowled with pace, control and swing throughout.
Mysteriously, the 28-year-old's ODI record is better than his Test record and he can certainly go for plenty when not on the money. But with the decline of Jason Gillespie, the Australian selectors may feel the seam attack would lack pace without Lee.
A fitness fanatic who plays in a rock band, Lee has suffered recurring injuries, but is currently injury-free, bowling better than ever, and desperate to play.
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Michael Slater's verdict: