The summer Dennis Lillee emerged as a fast bowling star

Dennis Lillee announced himself to English audiences with an outstanding performance in the 1972 Ashes series. It earned him a Wisden Cricketer of the Year award.

Despite a serious back injury and a spell in World Series Cricket, Dennis Lillee went on to be one of the great fast bowlers of all time. In 70 Tests, he took 355 wickets at 23.92.

The Haslingden club in the Lancashire League has a lot to answer for in the emergence of Dennis Lillee as Australia’s trump card in the 1972 tour of England. Lillee, who is not yet at his peak, should be in even better bowling form when the England side comes to Australia next year, and he gives full credit to the season he had in Lancashire League cricket.

“I think it was probably one of the real turning points in my career. It certainly forced me to become more accurate and learn a little bit about bowling, rather than merely thump down the ball as fast as possible. Quite often in the League games, footholds would be too slippery to bowl really fast, and accuracy and movement off the pitch would be the prime requirements. Now this couldn’t have come at a better time as, up to that stage, I’d been concentrating solely on pace.”

He began the 1972/73 Australian season just where he had left off the England tour and, by the time Western Australia had played their matches up to the start of the First Test against Pakistan, he had taken 40 wickets to be well ahead of any other bowler in Australia. On the field, a man who shows an obvious dislike to batsmen, he is of equable temperament once the day’s play is over, and the only thing he is prepared to dislike in cricket at the moment is the type of field set for him in one-day cricket fixtures on the England tour. “There was one occasion where they even wanted to take my slip away,” he said. “When that happens, it’s almost time to give the game away.”

The least comforting thing for England’s batsmen is that Lillee should be right at his peak when England arrive in Australia on the next occasion and he should still be in good bowling form in 1977 when at the age of 28, he accompanies the next Australian team to England.