Australia's all-time greatest Test XI

#9 Dennis Lillee

Dennis Lillee

Dennis Lillee continues to be the benchmark for fast-bowling excellence in cricket. Contemporaries like Malcolm Marshall and Imran Khan considered him to be the best in the business while Sir Richard Hadlee idolized him. He easily remains as one of the greatest fast bowlers in the history of the game.

Lillee took 355 test wickets in only 70 matches at an average below 24 and a phenomenal strike rate of 48. He was also the first fast bowler to cross the 350 wickets mark. He and his new ball partner Jeff Thompson tormented most of the leading batsmen in world cricket and won a lot of test matches for Australia.

Lillee could swing the ball both ways and generate seam movement as well. He also had a deadly bouncer. He was an express fast bowler in the initial days of his career but developed great accuracy and versatility as his career progressed and became a supremely crafty bowler gradually.

Lillee could also bowl a very nice cutter which made him very effective with the old ball. He was especially good against old enemies England and usually performed exceptionally well against them.