Dennis LILLEE

Dennis Lillee pictured above during his magnificent spell of 31.4-4-89-7 in England's 1st innings of the 6th Test at the Oval in August/September 1981. Despite Lillee's heroics - he also took 4-70 in the 2nd innings - the match finished in a draw, England closing on 261-7 in pursuit of an improbable total of 383 for victory with number 8 batsman Alan Knott keeping Australia at bay with a stubborn knock of 70 not out. It proved to be the final Test that Dennis would play on English soil and was a fitting finale for one of the finest fast bowlers the game has ever seen. The above figures only show Lillee's latter day performances against England - his earlier statistics can be seen on the previous page. In total Dennis played 29 Tests against England, taking 167 wickets at the excellent average of 21.00. He also scored 970 runs at an average of 13.71, including his Test best knock of 73 not out in the drawn 2nd Test at Lord's in 1975. Lillee came to the wicket with Australia in dire straits at 133-8 but in partnership with first Jeff Thomson and then Ashley Mallett he managed to add another 135 precious runs for the last 2 wickets.