Two months after being overlooked for the final two Ashes Tests, veteran paceman Brett Lee is none the wiser why he was shunned but insists he is hungrier than ever.
Though he did his best to conceal it on Tuesday night, Lee remains rankled selectors did not share his opinion he was match-hardened to play at Headingley and The Oval despite six weeks on the sidelines recovering from a side strain.
Lee was passed fit for the fourth Test by medical staff but selectors erred on the side of caution, mindful the speedster failed to play out last year's Boxing Day showdown against South Africa after declaring his fitness.
In a further insult to Lee, a veteran of 269 matches for Australia, team management took the extraordinary step of ordering Shane Watson to publicly question the 32-year-old's lack of match fitness prior to the Headingley game.
Lee responded by calling an impromptu press conference where he implored selectors to take his word.
"The only thing I can say is I know when I'm right to go. I know I was 100 percent fit," he said. "People thought otherwise, it's behind me."
The next few weeks are of vital importance to Lee, who - just two months shy of his 33rd birthday - is perhaps one serious injury away from reaching his expiry date.
Lee, however, remains more determined than ever to play for Australia and harbours no plan to follow in the footsteps of Ricky Ponting, who earlier this week announced his retirement from international Twenty20s in a bid to prolong his Test career.
Asked if his hunger to represent his country was stronger than even before his international debut, Lee said: "I'm starving, definitely hungrier."
Lee said he wanted to play as much cricket as he could and did not want to give up any of the three forms of the game.
"Maybe 12, 18 months down the track when we've had a pretty hard schedule we might have to look at what's going on but at this point in time definitely not," he said.
And it's hard not to see why. Ankle surgery and that side strain have restricted Lee to just seven out of a possible 41 internationals this year.
He has spent more time in gyms than he would care to remember and the ratio of time spent undergoing rehab against that in the field is worryingly low for an athlete well and truly on the wrong side of 30.
"I don't look at 32 as being old as a cricketer," Lee said.
"You probably see when I got a couple of wickets the other day that I was pretty excited."
"If I'm enjoying that and having the buzz and the adrenaline when that happens well I'll keep playing but I'm certainly not looking at the other end."
He has, however, all but ruled out returning to England in 2013 for one final assault on the Ashes.
"If I'm going out at 37 and trying to bowl 150kmh, you do the maths," he said.
Lee has a busy schedule coming up, one which will see him represent state and country.
He has been named in squads for the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa and the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 in India which will feature the world's best domestic sides.
Should his form warrant, he may stay in the subcontinent for Australia's seven One Day Internationals in October and November.