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How good a bowler was Dennis Lillee?

How good a bowler was Dennis Lillee?


  • Total voters
    78
Some people here rate him as "Best Bowler Ever" while some others(including me) think that he is quite overrated and does not deserve a place in top 10 pacers of alltime,what do u think?
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Excellent, but certainly not the best of his time (1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s). A few who I'd rate above him... Malcolm Marshall, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Wasim Akram, Curtley Ambrose, Allan Donald, Glenn McGrath, Craig White (just for Fuller 8-)). In fact, strike the "few", that's pretty much it. None of these, however, had to overcome the horrific injuries Lillee did, and while doing this doesn't make him a better bowler, it's still one hell of an achievement.

AND NO, MY PERCEPTION WOULD NOT BE ANY DIFFERENT IF I HAD SEEN LILLEE OR ANY OF THE OTHERS WHO I HAVEN'T SEEN!!!!!!!
 

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
But, but, but, Okay:)
Sorry mate, but I guess it has been discussed to death and ultimately it comes down to Lillee's performance in subcontinent vs. How Lillee is rated by most of the greats of his era.

So let's not discuss it all over again, just let the poll decide once and for all.
 

Burgey

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Some people here rate him as "Best Bowler Ever" while some others(including me) think that he is quite overrated and does not deserve a place in top 10 pacers of alltime,what do u think?
But even if he's not in the top 10 of all time, he canstill be an excellent bowler, can't he?
 

Chubby Rain

School Boy/Girl Captain
Lacks an irrelevant fifth option tbh.
The fourth option comes pretty close to being irrelevant. Lillee was a fine bowler, not good enough to be counted among the usual rest because of his record in Asia, but not mediocre by any means.
 

Son Of Coco

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Excellent, but certainly not the best of his time (1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s). A few who I'd rate above him... Malcolm Marshall, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Wasim Akram, Curtley Ambrose, Allan Donald, Glenn McGrath, Craig White (just for Fuller 8-)). In fact, strike the "few", that's pretty much it. None of these, however, had to overcome the horrific injuries Lillee did, and while doing this doesn't make him a better bowler, it's still one hell of an achievement.

AND NO, MY PERCEPTION WOULD NOT BE ANY DIFFERENT IF I HAD SEEN LILLEE OR ANY OF THE OTHERS WHO I HAVEN'T SEEN!!!!!!!
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I don't want to be a stick in the mud here, but isn't Lillee's time only the 70's and 80's? Or was he secretly Carl Rackemann and Scott Muller?
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
One can understand that there is an argument about whether or not he was the greatest and whether he was better than Marshall or Imran or Hadlee or some other great fast bowlers in history but surely there isnt 'much' of an argument about his being at leat ONE of the great bowlers the game has seen.

That being so, the choices in the poll are 'interesting' to say the least.

That some have still voted in the good and fine (whatever that may mean) is very very interesting indeed.
 

Burgey

Request Your Custom Title Now!
And he's played a fair few more tests here to redeem himself as well. He's a very good player, I was just using the example to highlight the fact that if someone has a poor record in one place it doesn't mean they aren't a good cricketer.

I was going to use Murali in Aus or Warne in India as the example but couldn't handle the dispute.
 

Salixiscool

Cricket Spectator
Dennis Lillee is a legend and will always be a legend. Granted not the best bowler of all time but he was a very very good bowler.
 

The Sean

Cricketer Of The Year
Excellent, but certainly not the best of his time (1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s). A few who I'd rate above him... Malcolm Marshall, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Wasim Akram, Curtley Ambrose, Allan Donald, Glenn McGrath, Craig White (just for Fuller 8-)). In fact, strike the "few", that's pretty much it. None of these, however, had to overcome the horrific injuries Lillee did, and while doing this doesn't make him a better bowler, it's still one hell of an achievement.

AND NO, MY PERCEPTION WOULD NOT BE ANY DIFFERENT IF I HAD SEEN LILLEE OR ANY OF THE OTHERS WHO I HAVEN'T SEEN!!!!!!!
Garner and Holding? Great bowlers no question, but I'm hard pressed to see how they'd be considered better than Lillee. I don't necessarily agree with the rest of the list either, but I think all of their cases are stronger than Big Bird and Whispering Death.

No disrespect to either of them - as I say, both great bowlers.
 

archie mac

International Coach
Can someone post up the averages of the other fast bowlers for the series in Pakistan in which Fot played please:)
 

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