He played in a match for the Minor Counties against the Australian tourists at Stoke on Trent in 1953 and, though he only scored 23, he was their sole source of resistance as they crumbled for 56 and 65 against Ray Lindwall and Richie Benaud.
Derbyshire were impressed by his knock, and he joined the county for a ten-year stint in which he played 268 matches and rose to the captaincy.
A canny right-hander, he made 1,000 runs for eight successive seasons, nudging the ball into the gaps without often dominating the bowling.
In the 1963 season, he became county captain but, with their fast bowler Les Jackson in decline, he had little ammunition to work with.
A right-handed batsman, Lee scored 12,129 runs in all matches, with eight centuries and a best of 150 for Derbyshire against Gloucestershire and 147 against Nottinghamshire.