Dennis Lillee - champion fast bowler became coach on retirement

By A. C De Silva

The breathtaking run-up of Wes Hall
The silk-smooth delivery of Ray Lindwall
The blistering pace of Jeff Thomson
The firebrand aggression of Freddie Trueman
The Scintillating swing of Alan Davidson
The devastating cut of John Snow
The nagging accuracy of Brian Statham
The lethal bouncer of Charlie griffith
The demoralising yorker of Andy Roberts
The unstinting stamina of Mike Procter
The sheer brilliance of Keith Miller

One of Australia’s greatest fast bowlers, Dennis Lillee was formally inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Faire on the second day of the third test between Australia and the West Indies in Perth in December 2009.

The Hall of Fame, run in association with the Federation of International Cricketer’s Associations (FICA) recognises some of the truly great players from cricket’s long and illustrious history.

A commemorative cup was presented to Lillee by the International Cricket Council (ICC) Director and Cricket Australia Chairman Jack Clarke in front of large and appreciative crowd at western Australia Cricket Association ground (WACA). He was then driven around the oval in an open top vehicle to allow his home fars to show their appreciation for the legendary fast bowler.

If one is to find the man who can enabody all those attributes and the man who can be picked and fitted into all those categories will be that bowler from Australia Dennis Keith Lillee.

Lillee a saga of courage

The bowling of Lillee was a saga in coverage as he came back from a back infans which would have crippled any other mortal. The two years in the wilderness saw the transformation of Lillee from a tearaway to a controlled pace bowler who leant every method of making the shire and seam do.

He was an outstanding fast bowler and could be said was the very epitome of the modern man. He appeared for Australia with tremendous force. He had a fling against England at the Adelaide Oval in the 1970-71 series taking 5 wickets for 40 runs and none for 84 in the drawn test. His first victim was Allan Knott who was caught by Ian Redpath for seven.

Though he retired from cricket, he did not fadeaway. He stamped his name in the annals of Australian cricket by capturing 355 wickets in 70 tests – a feat not reached by any other Australian bowler until Shane Warne did so much later. Lillee took 5 wickets 23 times and 19 wickets in a match seven times.

After having made his debut in the sixth test against England at Adelaide in the 1970-71, he became one of Australia’s greatest fast bowlers and was formally inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame, is run in association with the Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA) recognises some of the truly great players from cricket’s long and illustrious history.

A fling with world XI

The next fling was when Lillee took on the might of the World XI side.

The Lillee effect was instantaneous. As sobers, the captain of the elite outfit observed: ‘The moment that when he went into bat at 46 for 5, he can honestly say that it was the only occasion in his career when he (Sobers) felt anxious about his Physical well-being.

Sobers says normally fast bowling did not worry him. However, this was the first time that he faced the fastest bowler in the world on the fastest pitch in the world – (Perth). The Perth turf was giving Lillee great assistance, and what more – Sobers says that he did not have protective gear, which became a common thing later on.

Lillee was a bowler who compromised. He did things intelligently. He got over four stress features and returned every time a better bowler.

In 1973-74, Lillee was relegated to the rank of a club cricketer from the high pedestal. He bounced back as only he could with sheer will power and scientific training on a treadmill. He joined

hands with Thomson, just a year later, and forced the battle-scared English batsman to run for cover. While the Aussie crowds chanted, “Lillee....eee, Lill...eeee,” urging him to do better and better, England suffered more humiliation.

Cowdrey advised Lillee

Only Cowdrey, at the twilight of his career, stood firm among the rains – a great lesson, from a batting wizard, to a great fast bowler in the making.

However, it was not the end for Lillee at Cricket. Though he was unable to play cricket, he did the next best thing – he turned coach.

He became a very useful coach and gave valuable advice to youngsters who had the idea of becoming fast bowlers’ coach.

Besides being an adviser, he was a regular at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai and coached the Young Indian youngsters in the correct art of pace bowling.

Lilee’s coaching was not only in India. He also conducted coaching sessions at the MRF Pace Australia at the WACA. Cricketers like Dennis Lillee are not born everyday and the services he had rendered should be treasured for many years to come.

When Lillee started his coaching in Madras, he said. “To be a good pace bowler, you have to have a solid foundation. When I was in my early teens, I would have been happy it I had an opportunity to talk to and work with men like... Keith Miller and Ray Lindwall. It would have helped me became a better bowler early on.”