Brett Lee felt discomfort in his chest following his seven wickets against the England Lions in Worcester © PA Photos

Australia's Ashes preparations have been thrown into disarray with their most senior paceman, Brett Lee, ruled out of the opening two Tests, at Cardiff and Lord's, with a left side strain, Cricinfo has learned.

Lee was absent from Australia's training session at Sophia Gardens on
Monday after being sent to London for scans, and is understood to be
gutted at the news. He was Australia's best bowler in the tour match
against England Lions in Worcester,
claiming 6 for 76 in the first innings and displaying a mastery of
reverse-swing, but it is felt he tried too hard to prove himself in
that match, having missed Australia's last four Tests against South
Africa.

Prior to the injury, Lee seemed certain to partner
Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle in Australia's pace attack in
Cardiff, with Stuart Clark and Nathan Hauritz duelling for the final
bowling position, but those plans are now destined for the shredder.

"He has a sore left rib, but we won't know the
extent of it until the scans are back," an Australian team spokesman
said. "We're in a holding pattern until then."

Lee, Australia's most senior bowler with 310
wickets from 76 Tests, only recently returned to action after
undergoing foot and ankle surgery following the Boxing Day Test against
South Africa. The tour matches against Sussex and England Lions were
his first outings outside of Twenty20 competition this year, and his
display in Worcester last week had prompted many to feel that he was
nearing peak form.

"I have not trained for 25 weeks to sit on the sidelines," Lee said
last week, but it is looking the most likely scenario. If a replacement
is required Doug Bollinger, the left-armer from New South Wales, is
next in line after touring South Africa earlier in the year and making
his Test debut in January. He is in form after taking 8 for 136 for
Australia A against Pakistan A in the four-day game in Townsville that
finished on Monday.

The loss of Lee will prove a withering blow to the
tourists' hopes of retaining the Ashes, and prompt a major revision of
Australia's selection and planning policies entering the Cardiff Test.
If, as was expected, Australia were preparing to enter the match with
an all-pace attack, Ben Hilfenhaus would appear the least disruptive
option. He combined successfully with Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle
in South Africa earlier this year, but was unconvincing in the tour
match against Sussex.

Kevin Pietersen resisted the temptation of
indulging in a spot of pre-Ashes schadenfreud by expressing sadness for
Lee. "It's a huge, huge loss for Australia," Pietersen said. "Who knows
with the Australian team? It could be cat and mouse... [but] it's sad
for [Lee] if it's true. We keep in touch and are pretty good mates."

"He's a fantastic competitor and an amazing
bowler," said Pietersen. "We've all seen how he's bowled in the last
couple of games. He's a huge, huge, huge player for Australia. There's
his experience in the dressing room and also the intimidation he has on
batsmen around the world, because he's the fastest bowler in the world.

"He's got that intimidation factor, so it's a huge loss if he doesn't
play. But Australia are the world champions and favourites, so we know
we've got a fierce competition coming up."

Michael Clarke, Lee's Australian team-mate,
expressed sympathy for his colleague, and still hoped the injury would
prove less severe than feared. "Right now we'll just wait and see and
hope the scans come back clear," he said. "He's worked really hard over
the last 12 months to get back.

"I only found out this morning that he was having
the scans," Clarke added, "so it came as a bit of a surprise to me. The
most important thing is to get Brett as fit as possible."