Dennis Lillee

Profile

Dennis Lillee was one of the fast bowling greats, who consistently timed over 150 km/hr, until a back injury put him out of action for couple of years. And just when everyone thought his career was done and dusted, Lillee did not give up, followed a stringent regime, and made a comeback in the 1974-75 season.

The pace was obviously cut down, but Lillee had become a wiser and a smarter bowler. To add to that, he now had Jeff Thomson as his opening partner, someone who could bowl as quick as Lillee ever did, and together with Lillee, the duo became the most feared fast bowling combination for the opposing batsmen. With finances being the obvious issue, Lillee joined hands with Ian Chappell and couple of others to sign a contract with Kerry Packer and played WSC for a couple of years before a truce was reached between the warring parties. Lillee was involved in an on field scuffle with Javed Miandad where the latter threatened to hit him with the bat, while he had a verbal battle going with Sunil Gavaskar after trapping him leg before, which Sunny thought was clearly not out. An irate Gavaskar almost made his opening partner walk off the field before sanity returned.

After retirement, Dennis Lillee has been involved in many coaching activities, especially in the MRF pace academy in Chennai, which has given rise to many a fast bowlers coming out from the same.

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Career

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