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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 5, 2022
First published in 1974, i would imagine just before and to tie in with the '74/75 Summer in Australia, where England were thoroughly beaten and the legend of LilleenThomson as a brilliantly fast and good bowling partnership was born, this book is a quick study of Mr Lillee's formative years mostly through his love of Cricket, moving through his first appearance for his state team Western Australia and his first few matches for the full Australian team and a lot on the back injury which he struggled through for quite a long time. He worked very very hard to continue to play and mostly maintain his standards, and that can't have been easy.
There are some terrific stories of his team-mates and opponents, like perhaps most Australians of the time he particularly enjoys playing against and beating England and the 1972 series in England is well covered.
We're now almost 50 years from the first publication of this book and there is a chapter on how Mr Lillee would improve Cricket which i especially enjoyed. He certainly got right that more money needed to come into the game, he suggests through sponsorship and private ownership of the state team if all the best players were to stay. It seems incredible now to learn that Lillee worked in a bank while also playing for Australia as their top fast bowler. That wouldn't happen now. He's also right that tours would get shorter, they certainly have, and that more quality cricket will be required to reward the extra money that would come in. His recommendation is that more first class teams be formed in Australia, time has shown that the rise of Limited Overs Cricket accelerated by the changes brought about by World Series Cricket has been how the increase in top-level matches has happened.
And, as with most sporting autobiographies but not all, it seems absolutely sure that Dennis Lillee in 1974, for all his injury concerns and financial worries loves the game of Cricket and his life in general.
There are some terrific stories of his team-mates and opponents, like perhaps most Australians of the time he particularly enjoys playing against and beating England and the 1972 series in England is well covered.
We're now almost 50 years from the first publication of this book and there is a chapter on how Mr Lillee would improve Cricket which i especially enjoyed. He certainly got right that more money needed to come into the game, he suggests through sponsorship and private ownership of the state team if all the best players were to stay. It seems incredible now to learn that Lillee worked in a bank while also playing for Australia as their top fast bowler. That wouldn't happen now. He's also right that tours would get shorter, they certainly have, and that more quality cricket will be required to reward the extra money that would come in. His recommendation is that more first class teams be formed in Australia, time has shown that the rise of Limited Overs Cricket accelerated by the changes brought about by World Series Cricket has been how the increase in top-level matches has happened.
And, as with most sporting autobiographies but not all, it seems absolutely sure that Dennis Lillee in 1974, for all his injury concerns and financial worries loves the game of Cricket and his life in general.
January 10, 2010
Written in 1974, this book takes you through Lillee's early days in Perth, conquering the world as part of the Australian Test Cricket Team before being struck down with a debilitating back injury. This book brings you up to the early stages of his comeback to international cricket.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews