Sydney, Jan 26(ANI): Australia chief selector John Inverarity has claimed good friend and pace legend Dennis Lillee is a staunch supporter of the rotation policy and he recognised the benefits of resting and rotating players two decades ago.

Lillee, a fellow West Australian who dines regularly with Inverarity in Perth, has broken the chain of critical former Test players by giving his quiet stamp of approval to Australian cricket's bold new direction, News.com.au reports.

While the private Lillee rarely gives interviews, the Australian daily has confirmed he is a strong believer of Inverarity's controversial selection policy.

Meanwhile, Inverarity said if you talk about player management and the rotation of pace bowlers, you go back to the mid-1990s and you will see Lillee was advocating it way back then.

Inverarity added he could recall Lillee commending the selectors in the mid-1990s because they were adopting a policy that involved some player rotation and that would be nearly 20 years ago.

Australia's rotation and resting system, with Inverarity pulling the strings, has been the talking point of the summer, with the public thumbing their noses at it and venting their fury on social media.

Fans cannot understand why pace man Mitchell Starc was rested for the Boxing Day Test or why Dave Warner missed the start of the ODI series despite batting only once in the MCG Test and making a golden duck in the Sydney Test, the paper reported.

Inverarity points to the performances of their replacements, Jackson Bird on Boxing Day and Phil Hughes in the ODI series, as evidence the policy is strengthening Australian cricket, the paper concluded. (ANI)