OTD | Dennis Lillee was born in 1949

Dennis Lillee was born on July 18, 1949, in Subiaco, Western Australia. Lillee is widely known as the greatest fast bowler to play for Australia in international cricket. He played for Australia from 1970 to 1984 and held the record for most Test wickets by an Australian for quite some time.

Known for his genuinely fast pace and an attitude to match his skills, Lillie, along with Jeff Thomson, terrorised opponents with their pace and ruthlessness. Lillee made his debut for Australia in 1971 against England at Adelaide and picked up a fifer on debut, bowling almost 28 eight-ball overs.

He was a revolutionary bowler who permanently changed the game of fast bowling. He was Australia’s leading Test wicket-taker for a long time. Lillee suffered a career-threatening back injury that kept him out of the game for a couple of years, but he came out of it better prepared and altered his action to ensure longevity.

There is no alternative for raw pace in cricket. However, Lillee used to routinely bowl at decent lengths, damaging batters’ confidence. He later developed an outswinger that remained effective throughout his career. With age, his pace slowed, but he applied himself with new skills.

Lillee played 70 Tests and 63 One-Day Internationals for Australia and took 355 and 103 wickets respectively. In the lengthier format, he averaged 23.9 with the ball. His ODI average of 20.8 is among the best for a bowler who have taken at least 100 wickets. Speaking of his First-Class numbers, he picked 882 wickets in 198 matches, while he took 165 wickets in 102 List-A games,

After retiring from international cricket in 1984, Lillee began mentoring and coaching young fast bowlers. Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson, and Pat Cummins are some names that got their initial learning from Lillee. But the biggest contribution Lillee made to cricket after his playing days was the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai. He was the first coach at the facility and groomed several of the future India pacers. From 2004 until his sudden resignation in September 2015, Lillee was the president of the Western Australian Cricket Association.

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