Name: Dennis Lille.
Nickname: Lille.
Date of Birth: 18 July, 1949 in Subiaco, Western Australia..
Place of Birth: Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia.
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsman.
Role: Pace Bowler.
Bowling Style: Right Arm Fast.
Test Debut: Against England in Ashes in 1970/71 season.
Playing Teams:.Australia, Western Australia.
ONE DAY INTERNATIONAL CAREER:
Matches: 63.
Runs: 240.
Best Score: 42*.
100’s/50’s: 0/0.
Bat Average: 9.23.
Wickets: 103.
5w’s/10w’s: 1/0;
Best Bowling: 5/34.
Bowl Average: 20.82.
Catches: 67
TEST CAREER:
Matches: 70.
Runs: 905.
Best Score: 73*.
100’s/50’s: 1/0.
Bat Average: 13.71.
Wickets: 355.
5w’s/10w’s: 23/7;
Best Bowling: 7/83.
Bowl Average: 23.92.
Catches: 23.
Dennis Lille’s Personal Information:
Dennis Keith Lillee (born July 18, 1949 in Subiaco, Western Australia) was an Australian cricketer. Australia's most consistent fast bowler during the 1970s and early 1980s, Lillee was known for his fiery temperament, 'never-say-die' attitude and popularity with the fans.
In the Early Years…….
In the early part of his career Lillee was an extremely quick 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 then world record holder for most Test wickets (355), and had firmly established himself as one of the most recognisable and renowned Australian sportsmen of all time.
First class Debut: 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.
International Performance::
Test Debut:: The following season, he made his Test debut in the sixth Ashes Test at Adelaide, taking 5/83 from 28.3 eight-ball overs. 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.
In 1973, during a tour of the West Indies, Lillee was diagnosed with an incredible four spinal stress fractures, and he was forced out of cricket.
Many journalists and fans alike thought that his career may have ended, but Lillee persevered and put himself onto an intensive physiotherapy course, reshaping his bowling action.Following his strict fitness regime, Lillee returned to competitive cricket just eighteen months after being diagnosed with his potentially career-ending injuries, and soon re-established himself in the Australian Test team.
During his Injuries:: Lillee bowls to a nine-man slip cordon during a 1977 Test match in New Zealand.
During a Test against Pakistan in the 1972–73 season, Lillee felt sharp pain in his back for the first time, but continued to play. On the tour of the West Indies that followed, Lillee broke down completely and was diagnosed with stress fracture in his lower vertebrae. Forced out of cricket, he spent six weeks during the winter of 1973 wearing a plaster cast that encased his entire torso. After the removal of the cast, he played club cricket in Perth as a specialist batsman.
There was speculation that his bowling career was over. Lillee persevered, undergoing an intensive physiotherapy routine and remodelling his bowling action.
In 1974–75, he returned to Test cricket for the Ashes series and was paired with Queensland fast bowler Jeff Thomson to form one of the most effective opening bowling combinations in Test cricket. The pair was a major factor in Australia's emphatic 4–1 victory. In 1975, the University of Western Australia timed Lillee's bowling at 154.8 km/h.
Lille Player of World Series Cricket::
Remaining in Australia to do television commentatary on the tour, Lillee was isolated from the furore in England surrounding the plans for the breakaway professional competition, WSC. He was announced as one of the WSC players in May 1977. The Lillee image and personality were key components in WSC's innovative marketing of their games. However, he struggled on-field during the first season of WSC and in the winter of 1978 made further adjustments to his action. He also spent time working with ex-World professional sprint champion Austin Robertson, improving his running technique and fitness. In nine "Supertests" (four in Australia and five in the West Indies) .
In 1977 Lillee was one of the Australian players to join World Series Cricket, backed by media mogul Kerry Packer, resulting in his enforced absence from the Test and one-day international teams.
During 1978–79, Lillee captured 46 wickets at 22.5 average, with a best of 7/23 against the West Indies XI at the SCG.
After working with ex-World Professional Sprint Champion Austin Robertson::
Cutting down his pace and the length of his run up, Lillee now concentrated on moving the ball off the seam with an occasional faster or slower ball for variation. During the season of his return to official cricket, Lillee collected 35 Test wickets in six matches against the West Indies and England, and gave Australia's bowling attack stability while the selectors experimented with the team. In the World Series Cup, his changed style helped to bring him 20 wickets (at 12.7 average) in eight ODIs, including 4/12 against West Indies and 4/28 against England, both at the SCG. However, the tour of Pakistan that followed was ruined for Lillee by flat batting pitches prepared by local curators to blunt his effectiveness. He managed just three wickets in three Tests.
In 1980/81 season:: Lille performed dramatically well against New Zealand in 1980-81 season. He took 37 wickets in six Tests and was the leading bowler in the world Series Cup for the second successive season .Australia could able to achieve their first victory in the competition due his performace . He took 25 wickets single handadly. . 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.
Lillee became the then-world record holder for number of Test wickets in 1981 during one of his most famous Test performances. Late on day one of the traditional Boxing Day match in Melbourne, Lillee ripped through the strong West Indian batting line-up, dismissing Desmond Haynes, Colin Croft, and (famously) Viv Richards, to leave them at 4 for 10 at stumps. The next day he went on to innings figures of 7 for 83, and his dismissal of Larry Gomes saw him pass Lance Gibbs' record of 309 Test wickets.
Betting at Headingly in 1981 tour of England: At Headingley on the 1981 tour of England, Australia was in such a strong position at one stage of the third Test that bookmakers at the ground were offering odds of 500–1 on an England victory. These odds were flashed on the scoreboard during a break in the game and noticed by the Australian players. Lillee and Rod Marsh believed that the odds were so ludicrous that, via a third party, they each put a small wager on the outcome, later describing their actions as a "joke". Between them, they collected 7,500 pounds when England pulled off a comeback victory. Both men openly discussed the incident and received no official censure or sanction, although some criticised their actions. There has never been a suggestion that the bets compromised their efforts in the game. However, the issue has been re-examined in modern times following the match-fixing scandals that have plagued international cricket since the mid-1990s.
In the 1981–82 season:: 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.
Lille against New Zealand in March 1982::
Bowling as a first-change, Lillee had an uneventful tour of New Zealand in March and April 1982 before suffering a serious knee injury in the first Ashes Test at the WACA Ground in November of the same year. This forced him to miss the rest of the series and Australia's 2–1 victory, which reclaimed the Ashes. Returning to the team for the latter stages of the World Series Cup, Lillee was no longer an automatic choice to take the new ball. Nevertheless, his 11 wickets in six ODIs helped Australia win the tournament with a victory over New Zealand in the final.
Lille against Srilanka in Srilanka in 1983::
His wicket-taking capacity was diminishing. During Australia's brief tour of Sri Lanka in 1983, Lillee took three wickets at Kandy in the inaugural Test between the two nations and went wicket-less in two ODIs. Later in the year, his ODI career finished during the third World Cup in England when he conceded 52 runs from 12 overs in the match against the West Indies at Lord's. Dropped from the team, Lillee acknowledged that he was not fully fit, but he remained motivated to continue in Test cricket by the number of people who had written him off.
Lille in 1983-84 Season::
During the first two Tests of 1983–84 against Pakistan at Perth, he took only one wicket and looked set to be dropped from the Test team as well. Fate intervened when Carl Rackemann, the man of the match from the second Test, was injured. This allowed Lillee to play the rest of the Test series and he finished with 20 wickets at 31.65. Along with Greg Chappell he announced his retirement during the final Test at Sydney, and took eight wickets, including a wicket with his last delivery in the match.
After Lille’s Retirement::
Lillee made a brief comeback to first-class cricket in 1987–88 for Tasmania. In 1988, he played eight matches for English county team Northants and suffered a severe ankle injury. In his recent autobiography, Lillee claimed that he played again as a preparation for a possible comeback to the Australian team that was suggested by the then captain Allan Border.
By the time of his retirement Lillee was the most successful Test bowler in history, with 355 wickets at the outstanding average of 23.92, although his record was eventually taken over by English bowler Ian Botham.
During the 1990s and in the early years of the 21st century Lillee has dedicated himself to educating and improving young fast bowlers, working closely with bowlers from all around the world. He is currently considered one of the finest fast bowling coaches in the world. Lillee continued playing competitive cricket until 1999 for the traditional ACB President's XI match against touring sides at Lilac Hill. In his final match he took three wickets and played alongside his son Adam.
Some Records and Achievements of Lille::
· He was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1973
· He was one of the ten inaugural inductees into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 1996
· He was selected in the official Australian Test Team of the Century
· He was immortalized in the Men at Work song "No Restrictions" with the line: "Hear the cricket calling, switch on the TV, sit and stare for hours, and cheer Dennis Lillee."