Injured Australia paceman Brett Lee is still targeting a return for the World Twenty20 despite undergoing what he described as the "most painful" operation of his career.
Lee, who has not bowled a ball in anger since a Ford Ranger Cup outing for New South Wales in November, went under the knife to repair ligament damage to his right elbow five weeks ago.
But, while the 33-year-old's latest injury battle has led to intense speculation his international career could be over, the man himself insists he still has plenty to offer.
"It has been a 16-week injury with ligament damage and there's a couple of bone spurs in there which have been taken out," Lee told Channel Nine at the SCG today.
"I've had 12 operations now. This has probably been the worst. It has probably been the most painful.
"I'm pretty positive. Let's wait and see what happens. I'm 33. I would love to get to the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies (in May).
"It all comes down to how the elbow feels. If it pulls up okay in 12 weeks, I'll see how it goes. There's a bit more cricket left in me yet.
"I certainly haven't given up. It's just a matter of seeing how everything pulls up and seeing how hungry I still am.
"With the last six or seven weeks I've had off, it has been great to get away from cricket."
Lee, who has taken 310 wickets in 76 Tests, has not played the longest form of the game since the 2008 Boxing Day Test against South Africa.
But the veteran quick was a mainstay of the one-day international and Twenty20 sides in 2009, featuring in 13 ODIs and four T20 fixtures before injury struck.
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