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Growing up in Armidale Northern NSW in the 1970s I was like many youngsters playing backyard cricket at every opportunity and emulating my cricket heroes Ian and Greg Chappell, Rod Marsh, and Dennis Lillee.
In January 1980 at the age of 12 I was on a family holiday in Sydney and dad, and I went to the SCG to watch Australia and England in our first day night 50 over game. We sat high up in the old Sheridan Stand.
Australia batted first and scored 163. Under lights Dennis Lillee bowled first change after Jeff Thomson and Geoff Dymock and the England openers put on around 30 when Lilee came on the bowl.
He took 3 quick wickets and looking back at the old scorecard England had lost 3 for 9 and were 3 for 40 and then 4 for 51.
The crowd was going crazy chanting the famous "Lillee, Lillee, Lillee.." and he ended up taking 4 for 12 off his 10 overs before England scrapped home 8 down for 164 off 48.5 overs.
It was an incredible first up experience. I loved it.
Fast forward 12 or so years later and Lillee was doing one of his fast bowling clinics for young NSW fast bowlers at the SCG.
As a wicket keeper batter in Sydney Grade Cricket, I was invited to come along and after having a hit in the nets the fast bowlers ventured out for a centre wicket session. I did some keeping for an hour or so and then had an opportunity for another hit.
Lillee was working with the fast bowling group and after a couple of minutes batting he must've wanted to show them something and to my surprise grabbed a ball (he must’ve been 43/44 years of age), stood at the top of his mark and started running in to bowl.
It was a strange sensation. All of a sudden here I was facing up to a childhood hero bowling from the same end he was back in 1980 when the entire crowd was chanting “Lillee, Lillee, Lillee”. So surreal
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Nice. It’s a grand game for meeting heroes. Perhaps it’s because players stay in the game so long and then hang about in off the field roles so with luck, we get to meet them. Thanks. This bought back some of my own memories.
I was there too - UNSW, one of the closer clubs to the SCG, were asked to provide some fielders. Sitting in the home dressing room listening to DK talk to the young quicks (remember Glenn McGrath being a particularly attentive listener) and then heading out onto the ground for a run around (remember Wayne Holdsworth made us very welcome) and to walk in from cover as the great man had a bowl, was surreal indeed.
Also remember one of the young blokes asking about bowling on slow, flat pitches. Dennis replied with the sort of fantastic advice you would expect…….and finished with “having said all that, don’t forget I did take 1 for 300 on a tour of Pakistan”.