Daily Mail Australia has published a photograph of Lee placing his hand on the carcass of a dead and bloodied animal on the back of a truck, next to McGrath and two boys.

Lee had his arm around the shoulders of one of the boys.

Both men smiled for the camera.

It continues: @DailyMailAU uncover photo of Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath hunting in South Africa pic.twitter.com/y4rE4HcEmY — Mark Di Stefano (@MarkDiStef) February 22, 2015

Lee's spokesman confirmed to the Daily Mail that "yes, that photo was taken on a farm in South Africa".

Lee and McGrath were known to enjoy hunting trips together when McGrath shared stories of his trips to Africa with Lee and another former cricketer, Jason Gillespie, with the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA) in 2006.

The Daily Mail reported McGrath has said Lee enjoyed hunting, while Gillespie was an amateur with firearms. Together, they bonded over hunting.

McGrath also told the SSAA he enjoyed trophy hunting in the big safaris in Africa.

"I'd prefer to do the safari on foot, like they did in the old days and just take the camp with you, not driving around in 4WDs," he said.

"That to me would be perfect. It's not about the quantity of trophies; although quality is important, it's not everything. Just being out there in that environment would be amazing."

Fans have shunned and criticised the former Test cricketer on social media after photos of him posing with a gun next to dead African wildlife including buffalos, hyenas and an elephant were shared online.

I feel sick to my stomach - Cricketer Glenn @glennmcgrath11 thinks he's a hero slaughtering animals for fun & TUSKS! pic.twitter.com/h7KF1K7xTi — Angela ♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥ (@sallie6youtube) February 21, 2015

The photos were originally published on South African gamepark Chipitani Safaris' website.

Twitter users have called McGrath, who runs the McGrath Foundation, a breast cancer organisation named after his late wife Jane, who died from the disease, "sad" and "sick".

While McGrath's love for hunting was not a secret – he is a life member with the NSW branch of the SSAA – he has expressed his regret for his action.

In a note on Twitter, McGrath said he was going through an "extremely difficult" time in his life when the photos were taken, presumably referring to the death of his wife in 2008.

But fans were not convinced with his apology.

Grief can be brutal and bewildering but does it make you want to shoot elephants for fun? Poor apology, Glenn McGrath pic.twitter.com/xZ2hMyWzkW — Jill Stark (@jillastark) February 21, 2015

The Greens were also not impressed.

. @McGrathFdn Why would you kill an elephant Glenn McGrath? Absolutely despicable. http://t.co/jB8t9ipbUV — Greens NSW (@GreensNSW) February 21, 2015

Some fans were trying to see the funny side of the scandal.

GLENN MCGRATH KILLED PUMBAA!! — Mr Onthemoon (@firstdogonmoon) February 21, 2015