Background
LILLEE, Dennis was born on July 18, 1949.
LILLEE, Dennis was born on July 18, 1949.
Aged 20, Lillee made his first-class debut for Western Australia in 1969-70 and impressed with his raw pace. At the end of the season, he toured New Zealand with an Australian second team and took 18 wickets at 16.44 average.
The following season, he made his Test debut in the Sixth Test at Adelaide in the 1970-71 Ashes series, taking 5/84 from 28.3 eight-ball overs.His first Test wicket was John Edrich, caught by Keith Stackpole for 130, but it was not until the Seventh Test at Sydney that John Hampshire became the first batsman to be "caught Marsh, bowled Lillee". In 1971–72 against a World XI at Perth, he destroyed a powerful batting lineup that included Garry Sobers, Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai and Sunil Gavaskar by taking 8/29. Lillee followed this performance with a successful Ashes tour of England in 1972, when he "asserted himself as a great bowler".In a series that ended 2–2, he was the outstanding bowler on either team, taking 31 wickets at an average of 17.67. This earned him selection as one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year for 1973.
Against New Zealand and India in 1980–81, Lillee took 37 wickets in six Tests and was the leading bowler in the World Series Cup for the second successive season. He contributed 25 wickets to Australia's first victory in the competition. After breaking Richie Benaud's Australian Test record of 248 wickets, Lillee toured England in 1981 when his preparation was compromised by a viral infection. A return of 39 Test wickets (at 22.30) for series was the best of his career and he won man of the match awards in the first and last Tests. Lillee formed a penetrative partnership with fellow West Australian Terry Alderman, who claimed an Australian record of 41 wickets.Despite possessing this potent attack, Australia lost the series by 1–3 when Ian Botham turned in a series of brilliant individual performances.Granted a testimonial for 1981–82, Lillee's season got off to a poor start when he was involved in the infamous incident with Javed Miandad (see below) in the first Test of the summer. Suspended for two ODIs, the level of his on-field aggression was again criticised. However, he continued taking wickets: 15 in three Tests against Pakistan and 16 in three Tests against the West Indies. Against the latter, his 7/83 and 3/44 at the MCG in the first Test took him past the world record for the most Test wickets held by Lance Gibbs. His ODI season was less successful, with 12 wickets in 12 games. His best effort was 2/18 in ten overs against the West Indies during the third final of the World Series Cup, the only match in the final series Australia was able to win.
My Life in Cricket 1982, Over and Out 1985.
Lillee was known for his fiery temperament, 'never-say-die' attitude and popularity with the fans.