Dennis Lillee is a former Australian cricketer who took 24 five-wicket hauls during his career in international cricket. A five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and , only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers.The five-wicket haul is defined by the accumulative sum of all formats of the game. A fast bowler who represented the Australian cricket team between 1971 and 1984, Lillee was described by one writer as "the heart of Australia['s] bowling attack for more than a decade" and was rated "the outstanding fast bowler of his generation" by the BBC. He was the first bowler to capture 350 Test wickets and held the record for almost two years before Ian Botham surpassed the feat. Lillee was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1973 and the South African Cricket (Annual) Cricketer of the Year three years later. The International Cricket Council (ICC) inducted him into its Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.
Lillee made his Test debut during the sixth Test of the 1970–71 Ashes series where he claimed a five-wicket haul on debut. He was subsequently selected for the 1972 tour of England and took a pair of five-wicket hauls for the first time in a single match during the final Test of the same series. He ended the series with 31 wickets at an average of 17.67. He went on to claim five-wicket hauls in both innings of a Test match on three more occasions. Lillee's career-best figures for an innings were 7 wickets for 83 runs against the West Indies in 1981. He was most successful against England with eleven five-wicket hauls against them, and was most effective at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where he took seven of his twenty three five-wicket hauls. When Lillee retired from Test cricket in 1984, he had taken ten or more wickets in a match on seven occasions.
Lillee's One Day International (ODI) debut came against England in 1972. His sole five-wicket haul in ODIs came against Pakistan during the Prudential World Cup (1975) at Headingley. As of 2012, Lillee's combined tally of 24 five-wicket hauls is eleventh in the all-time list, a record jointly held with Sydney Barnes, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Dale Steyn.
This list includes only matches that are deemed official by the ICC. Lillee's performances in World Series Cricket and the World XI tour of Australia in 1971–72 are not included.
Key Symbol Meaning Date Day the Test started or ODI held Inn Innings of the match in which the five-wicket haul was taken Overs Number of overs bowled in that innings Runs Runs conceded Wkts Number of wickets taken Econ Bowling economy rate (average runs per over) Batsmen Batsmen who were dismissed by Lillee in the five-wicket haul Result Result for the Australian team in that match Lillee was Man of the match 10 wickets or more taken in the match § One of two five-wicket hauls by Lillee in a match
Tests + Five-wicket hauls in Test cricketNo.DateGroundAgainstInnOversRunsWktsEconBatsmenResult 1 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Eight-ball overs were bowled in this match. John Edrich Alan Knott Ray Illingworth John Snow Bob Willis Drawn 2 Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester Mike Smith Basil D'Oliveira Alan Knott Ray Illingworth John Snow Norman Gifford Lost 3 § Kennington Oval, London John Edrich Peter Parfitt Ray Illingworth Alan Knott John Snow Won 4 § Kennington Oval, London John Edrich Peter Parfitt Tony Greig Ray Illingworth Alan Knott Won 5 Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham John Edrich Dennis Amiss Alan Knott Derek Underwood John Snow Won 6 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Viv Richards Clive Lloyd Deryck Murray Michael Holding Lance Gibbs Won 7 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Majid Khan Zaheer Abbas Mushtaq Mohammad Saleem Altaf Wasim Bari Drawn 8 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Majid Khan Mushtaq Mohammad Javed Miandad Imran Khan Saleem Altaf Wasim Bari Won 9 § Eden Park, Auckland Geoff Howarth Bev Congdon John Parker Richard Hadlee Peter Petherick Won 10 § Eden Park, Auckland Glenn Turner Geoff Howarth Bev Congdon Jock Edwards Hedley Howarth Peter Petherick Won 11 § Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Bob Woolmer Mike Brearley Derek Randall Alan Knott Chris Old John Lever Won 12 § Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Mike Brearley Keith Fletcher Alan Knott Chris Old Derek Underwood Won 13 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Gordon Greenidge Viv Richards Clive Lloyd Andy Roberts Joel Garner Lost 14 § Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne David Gower Ian Botham Bob Taylor Derek Underwood John Lever Bob Willis Won 15 § Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Geoffrey Boycott David Gower Peter Willey Bob Taylor John Lever Won 16 Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane John Wright Bruce Edgar Paul McEwan Geoff Howarth Mark Burgess Lance Cairns Won 17 WACA Ground, Perth Bruce Edgar Paul McEwan Mark Burgess John Bracewell Lance Cairns Won 18 Trent Bridge, Nottingham Graham Gooch David Gower Peter Willey Ian Botham Bob Willis Won 19 Kennington Oval, London Geoffrey Boycott Wayne Larkins Chris Tavaré Mike Gatting Ian Botham Alan Knott John Emburey Drawn 20 WACA Ground, Perth Mudassar Nazar Majid Khan Wasim Raja Imran Khan Wasim Bari Won 21 Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane Mudassar Nazar Majid Khan Javed Miandad Zaheer Abbas Wasim Raja Won 22 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Desmond Haynes Colin Croft Viv Richards Larry Gomes Jeff Dujon Andy Roberts Joel Garner Won 23 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Mudassar Nazar Qasim Umar Sarfraz Nawaz Abdul Qadir Wasim Bari Azeem Hafeez Drawn
One Day Internationals + Five-wicket hauls in One Day InternationalsNo.DateGroundAgainstInnOversRunsWktsEconBatsmenResult 1 Headingley, Leeds Sadiq Mohammad Asif Iqbal Sarfraz Nawaz Wasim Bari Asif Masood Won
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External links Player profile of Dennis Lillee at CricketArchive