Wasn’t easy to quit: Lillee
Dennis Lillee shares tips with trainees at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai.
Australian bowling legend Dennis Lillee’s fruitful association with Chennai — the MRF Pace Foundation — will come to an end this year. The owner of 355 Test wickets has called it quits after serving for 25 years at the pace school.
The ever-optimistic Lillee, who put in sweat and blood at the academy, is certain that the speedsters’ haven will continue to produce quality cricketers.
Lillee will make a fleeting visit to train his wards for one last time in August. After a session with budding pacers on Monday, the Aussie star sat down for a chat with this newspaper, where he touched upon various topics including the decision to leave and the memories that he takes back from his tenure. Excerpts:
On the MRF trainees: I am extremely excited with this set of youngsters. They are all in the age group of 18 to 20 and are forever eager to climb the ladder. I have absolutely no doubt that they have their best days ahead of them.
On his decision to quit: It wasn’t an easy call indeed. But then, one of the main reasons behind this decision is that I don’t want to travel anymore. I have decided not to stay away from my family for lengthy periods. But of course, I would love to go on holidays, which have actually been overdue. I would still love to coach and I wouldn’t mind doing the same in my hometown (Perth).
On his biggest achievement at the academy: MRF is my baby and I am proud of the way things have panned out here. I had to build the school from scratch and being able to formulate a successful story is my pride and joy. It is a triumphant moment for all of us here to see Zaheer Khan climb the ranks at the international level. Seeing an 18-year-old who hit the deck hard mature into a great fast bowler with longevity reflects the success we have had here.
On what annoyed him the most: The coaches here in India had a different mindset back then. There were quite a lot of doubting Thomases and there was a time when I wanted to leave just a couple of years into the job. But my wife injected confidence and talked me out of it.
On the challenges: When I came in, I noticed three main things that the boys lacked — they never took physical exercises seriously, lacked in technique and were not mentally tough. They would bowl for four hours split into two sessions on a daily basis — this might work for a spinner all right. So, I made them exercise in the morning and held the bowling sessions later in the day. As for the technique, they bowled too much side on and their arm came over too much while delivering. I made them try a particular action after discussing with bio-mechanists and the likes. It was no breakthrough but a refinement.
On his successor: There are some big names on the potential list such as Glenn McGrath, Troy Cooley, Craig McDermott, Alan Donald, et al. We will try and zero-in on the best-suited man for the job.
Post new comment