Australia paceman Brett Lee has retired from international cricket.

Lee, 35, was forced to return home early from Australia’s horrific one-day tour of England earlier this month with a calf injury.

And his appearance in the fourth match of the series in Durham - where he took 0-12 off 2.2 overs in an eight-wicket loss - will be his last for his country.

Lee confirmed the news on Twitter, saying: “It’s official, I have retired from international cricket! Thanks for all your love and support. It’s been an amazing 13 years.”

Lee had been hopeful of playing in Australia’s Twenty20 World Cup team in August and September in Sri Lanka but his latest injury setback has signalled the end of his international career.

The speedster will continue to play domestic cricket for New South Wales in the shorter forms, although he turned down a Cricket New South Wales contract last month, while he is also likely to continue playing in the Indian Premier League.

Lee retired from the Test arena in February 2010 after claiming 310 scalps at an average of 30.81 in 76 matches.

He continued to play one-day international and Twenty20 cricket at both international and domestic level and in the absence of the likes of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Nathan Bracken, spearheaded the pace attack in the 50-over format of the game.

Lee finished his one-day career with 380 wickets from 221 matches at an average of 23.36 and an economy rate of 4.76.

He also had a handy batting average of 20.15 in Test cricket and 17.81 in one-day cricket.

Alongside Pakistan quick Shoaib Akhtar, Lee was one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket and he was recorded bowling at 99.5mph in a 2003 World Cup match against Sri Lanka. (ESPNstar)