Dennis Lillee

Not to be confused with Dennis Lillie.

Dennis Lillee
AM MBE
Lillee at the Sony Foundation's Youth Cancer campaign
Personal information
Full name
Dennis Keith Lillee
Born (1949-07-18) 18 July 1949 (age 75)
Subiaco, Western Australia
NicknameFOT
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast
RoleBowler
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 254)29 January 1971 v England
Last Test2 January 1984 v Pakistan
ODI debut (cap 13)24 August 1972 v England
Last ODI18 June 1983 v West Indies
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1969/70–1983/84Western Australia
1987/88Tasmania
1988Northamptonshire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 70 63 198 102
Runs scored 905 240 2,337 382
Batting average 13.71 9.23 13.90 8.68
100s/50s 0/1 0/0 0/2 0/0
Top score 73* 42* 73* 42*
Balls bowled 18,467 3,593 44,806 5,678
Wickets 355 103 882 165
Bowling average 23.92 20.82 23.46 19.75
5 wickets in innings 23 1 50 1
10 wickets in match 7 0 13 0
Best bowling 7/83 5/34 8/29 5/34
Catches/stumpings 23/– 67/– 67/– 17/–
Medal record
Men's Cricket
Representing  Australia
ICC Cricket World Cup
Runner-up 1975 England
Source: CricketArchive, 14 January 2009

Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE (born 18 July 1949) is a retired Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".[1] Lillee formed a new ball partnership with Jeff Thomson which is recognised as one of the greatest bowling pairs of all time.[2][3]

In the early part of his career Lillee was an extremely fast bowler, but a number of stress fractures in his back almost ended his career. Taking on a strict fitness regime, he fought his way back to full fitness, eventually returning to international cricket. By the time of his retirement from international cricket in 1984 he had become the world record holder for most Test wickets with 355,[4] and had firmly established himself as one of the most recognisable and renowned Australian sportsmen of all time. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1975 Cricket World Cup.

In a fan poll conducted by the CA in 2017, he was named in the country's best Ashes XI of the previous 40 years.[5] On 17 December 2009, Lillee was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.[6]

  1. ^ BBC Sport: Ashes legends - Dennis Lillee. Archived 5 April 2004 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  2. ^ "Wanna fix the ball? Get a razor like Jeff Thomson". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Lillee, the perfect fast bowler". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  4. ^ MCG.org: Dennis Lillee. Archived 31 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  5. ^ "The Best Australian Ashes XI revealed". CA. 1 December 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  6. ^ "Dennis Lillee inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2009.