In 1999, rumours started swirling around the New South Wales sheds of the formation of a potential rock band – and the response was anything but encouraging.

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When former Test spinner Gavin Robertson informed Blues captain Mark Taylor he was putting together a musical quintet alongside teammates Richard Chee Quee, Brett Lee, Shane Lee and Brad McNamara, the skipper replied: “Are you guys really going to be in a band? You’re kidding me.”

Mark Waugh was even less enthusiastic about the prospect.

“Waugh didn’t even say anything,” Robertson recalled in a documentary about the back story of their band Six & Out – which will air on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports after the final T20I between Australia and Pakistan on Monday 18 November.

“He just looked and laughed and walked off.”

Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist asked what the band name was before floating ‘The Rubbish Band’ as an option.

But their mockery was short-lived.

Less than 18 months later, Six & Out released its debut album, and they were performing to thousands of people on the Sydney live music circuit.

The band rose from humble beginnings, with McNamara and Shane Lee teaching themselves how to play the guitar during a tour of the United Kingdom.

The younger Lee brother was told he’d need to purchase a bass if he wanted to join.

“Who doesn’t want to be in a rock band?,” he said.

Chee Quee was put on lead vocals after the others learned of his background singing as a child, while Robertson was the only established musician in the group, having previously played gigs with another band.

“I considered him a better musician and a better drummer than he was a cricketer, and he played for Australia,” Chee Quee recalled in the documentary, being produced by Foxtel’s in-house agency Balboa in partnership with OMD Create and Maccas.

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh added: “Robbo talked himself up. He rated himself as the No. 5 drummer in Australia. I’m not sure how he got those ratings.”

In typical cricket fashion, the band was born out of killing time in the dressing room as it poured with rain.

“We just loved music and there was one season where we weren’t playing much cricket because a lot of the days were washed out,” Chee Quee said.

Tunes would blast through the SCG dressing room, and soon enough they released a self-titled album.

Their first record consisted of a series of covers and originals, including their first single ‘Can’t Bowl, Can’t Throw’.

The song peaked at number 100 on the ARIA charts and was a reference to the infamous incident where a microphone picked up someone saying ‘he can’t bowl, and he can’t throw’ about Australian pace bowler Scott Muller during a Test against Pakistan in Hobart in 1999.

The finger was pointed at the late Shane Warne, but ‘Joe the cameraman’ confessed to the sledge, and he even features on the track which enjoyed cult status among cricket fans.

They played roughly 300 gigs during the early 2000s and released a five-track second album in 2002 titled ‘Bring It On!’ featuring Australian rock icons Dave Gleeson of The Screaming Jets and Doc Neeson of The Angels on vocals.

In 2005, the band pulled up stumps however as their lives went in different direction as most of the band wrapped up their cricket careers.

Former speedster Brett Lee even went solo during the following year’s Champions Trophy with a song he wrote and recorded with Indian singer Asha Bhosle called ‘You’re the One for Me’ – it went to number two on the Indian and South African charts in 2006.

But their connection stayed strong as they went off, and they were never forgotten by Australian rock loving cricket fans, which led to Six and Out’s triumphant comeback last summer.

Robertson’s battle with brain cancer served as the inspiration from them to play a handful of live shows across the country with many former cricket legends in attendance as well as Australian captain Pat Cummins.

The quintet enjoyed it so much that they are embarking on another national tour this summer, kicking off with this week’s ‘Cricket Rocks’ event at Rooty Hill’s Sydney Coliseum Theatre.

“We always probably made excuses over the last x amount of years, why we couldn’t play, and life sort of got in the way of things,” Shane Lee said on Fox Cricket’s podcast The Follow-On.

“And when Gavin was diagnosed with brain cancer, we sat back thought and life’s too short.

“We’re sitting on something that’s precious to us. We may not have been the greatest band in the world when we started, but we’re a fantastic pub band now. A little bit more than that I think. We put on a good show.”

SEE THEM LIVE

Shane Lee and his fellow band mates in Six & Out are embarking on another national tour this summer, kicking off with this week’s ‘CricketRocks’ event at Rooty Hill’s Sydney Coliseum Theatre.

Gavin Robertson, Brad McNamara, Richard Chee Quee and the Lee brothers will be joined by members of the Australian cricket team and modern greats David Warner, Brett Lee, Wasim Akram, Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor, Ravi Shastri, and Brad Haddin, just to name a few.

Tickets for Cricket Rocks at the Sydney Coliseum Theatre on Friday are available here.