Australian fast bowler Brett Lee believes he is only "50-50" for cricket's World Cup after sustaining torn ligaments in his left ankle. "At the moment probably all I can say is that I'm 50-50 for the World Cup, so fingers crossed," he said.
Lee rolled his ankle in a training session on Thursday in Wellington.
He said: "The good news is that I don't have to have an operation. Yesterday I was in a lot of pain. When I went down I heard a crack in my ankle."
The New South Welshman, rated the fifth best bowler in one-day internationals, said he was more positive than he had been on Thursday.
He added: "It's too hard to say what the outcome will be, but I'll be doing everything I can to make sure I have a chance of playing at the World Cup.
"As a fast bowler I have had stress fractures in my back and ankle surgery three times and have always overcome these injuries."
Australian physio Alex Kountouris said Lee had seen an orthopaedic surgeon on his return from New Zealand, where Australia lost the first of three one-day matches against the Kiwis on Friday.
Kountouris said: "It is difficult to put an exact time on his recovery at this early stage. This should become clearer in the next seven to 10 days.
Meanwhile, Australian batsman Michael Clarke will return to Sydney on Saturday after failing to recover sufficiently from hip soreness while in New Zealand.
He is, however, not expected to be in danger of missing Australia's first World Cup fixture against Scotland in St Kitts on 14 March.
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Subject: Aussie Lee '50-50' for World Cup 
Sat Feb 17, 2007 4:34 pm
