Lillee: the Firebrand Bowler

Fri, February 27, 2009 8:00 am By James Coolridge

Printer friendly version

Email to a friend

RSS

Lillee: the Firebrand Bowler

Dennis Keith Lillee, the former bowling magician of Australian cricket team was born on 18 July, 1949 in Subiaco, Western Australia and was known for his fiery temperament, ‘never-say-die’ attitude and popularity with the fans. Lillee was an extremely quick bowler and by the time of his retirement from international cricket in 1984 he had become the then world record holder for most Test wickets showing 355 batsmen the way back to pavilion.

Lillee made his debut in the first-class cricket at the age of 20 in 1970 and impressed with his raw pace. His Test debut happened in the sixth Ashes Test at Adelaide. Lillee was selected as Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year for 1973.

In the England tour in 1975 at the inaugural World Cup he captured eight wickets in five matches, including 5/34 against Pakistan at Leeds. He along with Jeff Thomson maintained a powerful and fiery bowling pair that caused panic in the opposite side. Lillee took 37 wickets in six Tests against New Zealand in 1980-81 and was the leading bowler in the World Series Cup for the second successive season.

Bowling as a first-change, Lillee had an uneventful tour of New Zealand in March and April 1982 before suffering a serious knee injury in the first Ashes Test at the WACA Ground in November of the same year. This forced him to miss the rest of the series and Australia’s 2–1 victory, which reclaimed the Ashes. Returning to the team for the latter stages of the World Series Cup, Lillee was no longer an automatic choice to take the new ball. Nevertheless, his 11 wickets in six ODIs helped Australia win the tournament with a victory over New Zealand in the final.

Throughout his Australian career Lillee was also famous for his partnership with wicketkeeper Rod Marsh. The scorecard entry ‘c Marsh b Lillee’ appeared 95 times in Tests, a partnership record between wicketkeeper and bowler still unbroken.