Born on 18 July, 1949 at Subiaco, Perth. Undoubtedly one of the greatest right arm fast bowlers of all time, Lillee made his test debut as a tear-away fast bowler in the Ashes series of 1970-71, Down Under, with a haul of 5-84. He made his one-day debut against England at Manchester in 1972. He was nominated Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1973.
Dennis Lillee was strongly built, had a beautiful action, was aggressive and was intelligent enough to sort out the faults of international batsmen very early. His bouncer was disconcerting to most batsmen and he could swing, cut or seam the ball at will. After he broke down with a stress fracture of the spine in the West Indies, early in his career, he fought back bravely to return a better bowler, albeit a shade slower. Controversial incidents like the time he used an aluminium bat in a test against England at Perth and aimed a kick at Pakistan skipper, Miandad again at Perth marred an otherwise brilliant career.
Lillee played 70 tests claiming 355 wickets at 23.92 apiece with a best of 7-83. He took five wickets in an innings 23 times and 10 wickets in a match on seven occasions. He also scored 905 runs, with a best of 73 n.o. When he retired from tests after the series against Pakistan in 1983-84 he was the leading wicket taker in test cricket, only to be surpassed by Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Marshall, Ambrose, Hadlee, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Courtney Walsh, Muralitharan and Warne later. Lillee played his last one-day match in the World Cup of 1983 against the West Indies at Lord's. By that time, he had played 63 matches, claiming 103 wickets with a best of 5-34. He now spends his time - apart from TV appearances - helping aspiring fast bowlers sharpen their skills and is a consultant coach at the MRF Pace Academy at Chennai in India, where he has already helped India produce a few world class bowlers.