Sydney: Brett Lee, among the fastest to have hurled a cricket ball, spoke to The Telegraph on Thursday afternoon.

Brett, 38, retired from all formats at every level earlier this year.

Excerpts...

Q Did you have a word with young Sean Abbott in the days immediately after the Phil Hughes tragedy?

A I did have a chat, yes.

In your prime, you were among the fastest and made batsmen flinch. What did you tell Abbott?

What happened to Phil was freakish... Nothing like that happened during my years of first-class cricket... I told Abbott that it was an accident and he didn't have to blame himself. Accidents happen.

What else did you tell Abbott?

That if Phil was looking from up there, he'd tell him 'if you don't bowl short-pitched balls, I'd be disappointed'... Phil was like that, he actually loved bowlers coming in and bowling fast. He also loved it when batsmen took on the fast bowlers and hooked.

Mentally, how did you find Abbott when you had a session with him?

Abbott's strong, but I found him to be struggling then. This is something he'll not be able to get over.

What's most important for Abbott?

Abbott has to move on in life... He's only 22... He can't keep hearing and reading things (which, in a way, blame him for Hughes's death)... Abbott's a wonderful player and an equally wonderful character, though.

But if Abbott can't get overwhat happened during the New South Wales-South Australia match, at the SCG, then how can he move on?

Well, Abbott has to move forward, he can't live in the past... November 25 is over with now... He's got a good support system around him, got good people around him. It will be easier for him when people don't talk about the accident. To begin with, Abbott may think about it 50 times a day instead of 500 times. After a while, it could be 10-15 times and, after that, probably just a couple of times in a day. It has to be a gradual process. Abbott can't get over it entirely, but it's in his hands to move on in life.

What was your reaction when you heard of the accident?

I was devastated.

Were you at the SCG that day?

No, I was shooting for UnIndian (with Tannishtha Chatterjee).

Did you thank God for not having ever put you in the unfortunate position Abbott found himself in?

One would thank God every day. It was a very sad, freakish accident. But, at the end of the day, an accident only.

When you played in the Big Bash League, did you become conscious about bowling/not bowling the bouncer?

I think everybody did after Phil's death. Now, if a batsman gets hit, one constantly asks 'are you okay?'... Phil's death has changed cricket. That's for sure.

Finally... Were you tempted to restrain yourself when you set about bowling the first short-pitched delivery after Hughes's death?

Not really, because one had to get through it. One had to put everything at the back of one's mind and just bowl the way that came naturally... Everybody has to move on.

Footnote: Hughes died on November 27 last year, two days after being struck by one from Abbott. He'd collapsed at the SCG and never regained consciousness. He was 25.