Dennis Lillee

Dennis Keith Lillee was a former Australian bowler who was known to his fans for his never-say-die spirit. He was regarded as one of the best pace bowler of his times. Lillee started playing first class cricket for Western Australia in 1969-70. Denise showed fierce aggression on field and was soon selected to play for Australia in the Ashes series for 1970-71.

Along with Rod Marsh, the wicket keeper for Australia, Lillee made the finest keeper-bowler pair of all times. The phrase “caught Marsh, bowled Lillee” became the most frequent phrase shown on match summaries for the years to follow. Lillee showed excellent talent during the World XI vs. Australia match in 1971-72 by taking 8 wickets for 29 runs. The victims included down Clive Lloyd, Sunil Gavaskar, Rohan Kanhai and Gary Sobers.

Lillee showed first signs of backpain during the 1972-73 season against Pakistan owing to his very pace bowling attack. He suffered a stress fracture in his lower back while touring West Indies in the next season. Lillee took a forced break from cricket for 6 weeks while recovering from the injury. The media expected to see an end to the paceman’s career. However, more magic was to follow.

Intense physiotherapy sessions and redrafting his delivery methodology helped Lillee make a come-back to International arena. He returned to play for the Ashes in 1974-75 and paired with Jeff Thompson to become the most effective keeper-bowler pair for Test cricket.

Stress and injuries gradually started taking a toll on his performance. Lillee retired from International cricket in 1984 and from cricket altogether in 1999.

Career Highlights

Held the then record for the highest number of test dismissals(355) in 1984.

Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1973.

Introduced to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 1996.