CHENNAI: Dennis Lillee was once a bank teller. He left school at the age of sixteen and joined The Commonwealth Bank Of Australia in Perth and embarked on what he thought would be a stable and life-long profession.
He was so sure that banking was the right career path for him that he enrolled in night-courses in accountancy in the hope that one day he would become a manager.
However, as we all now know, fate had other ideas for the tall, robust and sun-burnt Aussie and he went on to be one of the all-time greats in the game of cricket.
“We were a family that just loved sport,” he recalls fondly.
“My father was a truck driver and my mother worked in retail but he was always really into Australian Rules Football and she was quite a good tennis player. My brother and I used to always play cricket for fun with the neighbourhood kids but we were a little mean to our sister who we never used to let bat.
We always made her field!” he laughs.
“My grandfather was a big influence in my career as he loved cricket and helped us love the game too. He used to bowl to my brother and I, encouraged us to play club-cricket. I remember when I used to field at fine-leg, he used to walk around the boundary and have a chat with me about the game.
In-fact, it was my grandfather who called me at the bank, and informed and congratulated me on being selected to play for Australia. I will never forget that.” As a young boy, Dennis Lillee used to stay up late at night and listen to live transmissions on his transistor radio of Australian tours of England.
“The commentators back then just painted such a great picture of the matches that they made you feel as though you were a part of it. That’s what hooked me! “I learnt to play by listening to the commentary, learning from my coaches and playing amateur level club-cricket. This is why I believe that it is so important that kids learning the game today play first-class cricket.
“In this age of IPL and twenty-over cricket, it is just as important that the youngsters play test cricket to get direction and discipline,” he warns. “Test cricket is called so because it tests you on all levels. Look how well Doug Bollinger did with the Chennai Super Kings. He is someone who worked hard through the ranks of first class cricket and when he arrived here he was ready and wasn’t fazed by anything.
“Cricket has given me amazing opportunities that I probably wouldn’t have had as a bank teller. It has turned my world upside down. Even though in my day the money was not as great as it is now, it challenged me and taught me how to take risks and to cope with injury and during times of turmoil. It was hard work but it was always an adventure and it was always exciting.”