Australia bowler Brett Lee.
Cricket Australia said on Friday Lee was in trouble over comments he made that Anthony Stuart lost his job as New South Wales coach because he was made the scapegoat for the alleged deficiencies of Gilbert and the Cricket New South Wales (NSW) hierarchy.
"I think the blame for a lot of things has been unfairly dumped on Anthony Stuart," Lee (36) told the Sydney Morning Herald last week.
"It should have been at the top, Dave Gilbert. He should've been made to go in my opinion … Cricket NSW is all about leadership, and while that comes from the coach, it comes from the top, too, and I believe for the last five or six years NSW has seriously dropped the ball."
Cricket Australia said the former Test fast bowler, who still plays in the domestic Big Bash League, was reported by Cricket NSW for allegedly breaching the board's code of behaviour.
Under the code, players must not bring the game into disrepute or engage in behaviour harmful to the interests of cricket.
Lee on Friday said he stood by his comments.
"What I said I meant. I did it in the best interests of NSW cricket. There's a lot of people who have thought it but didn't want to say it so I took the decision that I should stand up," he said.
"I'm going next week to the hearing and I'm looking forward to that so I can express my views and the reason for saying them." – Reuters