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

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."