Alan Philip Eric Knott (born 9 April 1946 in Belvedere, Kent, and educated at Northumberland Heath Secondary Modern School,^[1]) is a former Kent County Cricket Club and English cricketer, as a wicket-keeper-batsman.

He played for the England Test side between 1967 and 1981, and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1970. He was particularly known for his habit of conducting limbering-up exercises at any inactive moment during a match. His major strengths as a batsman were the sweep and the cut.

On 6 September 2009, Alan Knott was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.^[2]

Career[link]

Inspired by his father, he made his Kent debut in 1964 at the age of 18. He joined a long list of Kent-created wicket-keeper-batsman.

He gained his first Test cap at the age of 21, having been named Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year in 1965. When he made his debut, it was against the Pakistani tourists in 1967. Batting at number 8, he made a duck in his first Test, at Trent Bridge, but didn't concede a single bye in the match. He made 28 in the second match, but didn't make the starting eleven for the 1967-68 tour of the West Indies, as Jim Parks was initially preferred. However, for the fourth and fifth matches of the series, he was picked again. In the first of those, he made his first Test half-century, a score of 69 not out, and he once again excelled at wicket-keeping.

In the winter of 1968/69, again against Pakistan, he confirmed his position as England's premier wicketkeeper-batsman. He made two 50s in the series, including a score of 96 not out at Karachi when the match was prematurely ended by a pitch invasion by Pakistani fans, denying him a well-deserved hundred.

In 1970, he was Wisden's Cricketer of the Year. County captain Colin Cowdrey said:

"I think he is the most gifted and dedicated cricketer one could ever wish to play with, never satisfied with his performance and always seeking for a little more perfection."

In the 1970-71 series in Australia he was instrumental in England regaining The Ashes, taking five catches and stumping Doug Walters in the decisive Seventh Test in Sydney. In the following series against New Zealand he finally made his maiden Test century, 110 at Auckland, having missed the first match of the series, so that Bob Taylor could take the gloves as a reward for patience as reserve keeper on the four month combined tour. Knott did not miss a Test until 1977, making a sum of five centuries and twenty-eight 50s in that time.

He has the distinction of once scoring 7 runs from a single delivery in Test cricket, off Vanburn Holder in the Fourth England v West Indies Test at Headingley in 1976. Knott took a quick single to extra-cover where Bernard Julien fielded and overthrew the wicket-keeper. Knott and Tony Greig ran two overthrows before Andy Roberts, fielding at square-leg, retrieved the ball and threw it past the stumps at the bowler's end and over the long-off boundary for four more runs.

Knott helped England win the Ashes in England in 1977 but had been persuaded by England colleague Tony Greig to join Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. This effectively put his England career on hold as the 'Packer players' were banned from Test cricket. When he returned to Tests after the end of World Series Cricket in 1980, he had very little success against a mighty West Indian side, averaging 5.14 in the series. He did not play in the tour of the West Indies that immediately followed, but was picked for the final two Tests of the famous 1981 Ashes series. Fittingly for one of England's greatest players, he ended his last Test against Australia at The Oval, with a score of 70 not out and an England series win.

He was replaced as England wicket keeper by Bob Taylor on two occasions - when he went to World Series Cricket, and when he retired. Knott retired from all cricket in 1985, at the age of 39. He then mentored his son James Knott and Jack Russell.

Knott was known for his idiosyncratic behaviour on the field. His trademarks included always keeping his shirt collar turned up to protect him from the sun; his sleeves rolled down to safeguard his elbows when diving; and, after a tip from former Northamptonshire and England wicket-keeper Keith Andrew, warming his hands with hot water before going on the field. According to Bob Taylor, Knott preferred strong-backed gloves with full webbing and plenty of padding in the palms, wearing two pairs of Chamois inners with strips of plasticine across the palms.^[3]

He now lives in Cyprus.^[4][5][6]

In the October 2004 edition of The Wisden Cricketer magazine he was voted as the wicket-keeper in "England's Greatest post-war XI" receiving votes from 20 of the 25 panelists.

His son, James, has also played first-class cricket for Surrey and Minor counties cricket for Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire.^[7]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Cricinfo Player Profile : Alan Philip Eric Knott
• Sunday Times article 28 June, 2009

v t e England squad – 1975 Cricket World Cup 1 Denness (c) 2 Amiss 3 Arnold 4 Fletcher 5 Greig 6 Hayes 7 Jameson 8 Knott (wk) 9 Lever 10 Old 11 Snow 12 Underwood 13 Wood

Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE (born 18 July 1949 in Subiaco, Western Australia) is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".^[1] Lillee was known for his fiery temperament, 'never-say-die' attitude and popularity with the fans.

In the early part of his career Lillee was an extremely quick bowler, but a number of stress fractures in his back almost ended his career. Taking on a strict fitness regime, he fought his way back to full fitness, eventually returning to international cricket. By the time of his retirement from international cricket in 1984 he had become the then world record holder for most Test wickets (355),^[2] and had firmly established himself as one of the most recognisable and renowned Australian sportsmen of all time.

On 17 December 2009, Lillee was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.^[3] Dennis Lillee has done great service to the art of Fast bowling by contributing immensely at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, India.

Test career[link]

Aged 20, Lillee made his first-class debut for Western Australia in 1969-70 and impressed with his raw pace. At the end of the season, he toured New Zealand with an Australian second team and took 18 wickets at 16.44 average.^[4]

Debut[link]

The following season, he made his Test debut in the Sixth Test at Adelaide in the 1970-71 Ashes series, taking 5/84 from 28.3 eight-ball overs.^[5] His first Test wicket was John Edrich, caught by Keith Stackpole for 130, but it was not until the Seventh Test at Sydney that John Hampshire became the first batsman to be "caught Marsh, bowled Lillee". In 1971–72 against a World XI at Perth, he destroyed a powerful batting lineup that included Garry Sobers, Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai and Sunil Gavaskar by taking 8/29. Lillee followed this performance with a successful Ashes tour of England in 1972, when he "asserted himself as a great bowler".^[6] In a series that ended 2–2, he was the outstanding bowler on either team, taking 31 wickets at an average of 17.67. This earned him selection as one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year for 1973.^[7]

Back injury[link]

During a Test against Pakistan in the 1972–73 season, Lillee felt sharp pain in his back for the first time, but continued to play. On the tour of the West Indies that followed, Lillee broke down completely and was diagnosed with stress fracture in his lower vertebrae. Forced out of cricket, he spent six weeks during the winter of 1973 wearing a plaster cast that encased his entire torso.^[2] After the removal of the cast, he played club cricket in Perth as a specialist batsman.

There was speculation that his bowling career was nearly over. Lillee persevered, undergoing an intensive physiotherapy routine, formulated by sports scientist Frank Pyke,^[8] and remodelling his bowling action.^[2] In 1974–75, he returned to Test cricket for the Ashes series and was paired with New South Wales fast bowler Jeff Thomson to form one of the most effective opening bowling combinations in Test cricket. The pair was a major factor in Australia's emphatic 4–1 victory.^[9] In 1975, the University of Western Australia timed Lillee's bowling at 154.8 km/h.

Lillee and Thomson[link]

Lillee toured England again in 1975. During the inaugural World Cup he captured eight wickets in five matches, including 5/34 against Pakistan at Leeds. His aggressive bowling was not always suited to the run-containing style required in the one-day game. In the subsequent four-Test series against England, Lillee claimed 21 wickets as his team finished winners by 1–0. With the bat, he made 73 not out at Lord's to rescue Australia from a difficult situation.

Another 27 wickets (at 26.37 average) followed in the summer of 1975–76 against the West Indies. At this time, Lillee was one of the most marketable personalities in Australia, but he was frustrated by the small amounts that he earned from the game. Outspoken in his opinions, he came into conflict with the game's administrators. Lillee suggested that a made-for-television exhibition series could be played each season with profits given to the players. John Cornell, his manager, took this idea to Kerry Packer, who later fashioned it into World Series Cricket (WSC).

An injury to Thomson early in 1976–77 forced Lillee to take on a greater workload during the six Tests of the season. He responded with 47 wickets including match figures of 10/135 against Pakistan at the MCG and 11/123 at Auckland against New Zealand. In the Centenary Test, his 11/165 was the decisive performance in Australia's victory. However, the extra exertion created "hot spots" in his back and not wanting to reaggravate his previous condition, he made himself unavailable for the 1977 tour of England.

World Series Cricket[link]

Remaining in Australia to do television commentary on the tour, Lillee was isolated from the furore in England surrounding the plans for the breakaway professional competition, WSC. He was announced as one of the WSC players in May 1977. The Lillee image and personality were key components in WSC's innovative marketing of their games. However, he struggled on-field during the first season of WSC and in the winter of 1978 made further adjustments to his action. He also spent time working with ex-World professional sprint champion Austin Robertson, improving his running technique and fitness. In nine "Supertests" (four in Australia and five in the West Indies) during 1978–79, Lillee captured 46 wickets at 22.5 average, with a best of 7/23 against the West Indies XI at the SCG.

Cutting down his pace and the length of his run up, Lillee now concentrated on moving the ball off the seam with an occasional faster or slower ball for variation. During the season of his return to official cricket, Lillee collected 35 Test wickets in six matches against the West Indies and England, and gave Australia's bowling attack stability while the selectors experimented with the team. In the World Series Cup, his changed style helped to bring him 20 wickets (at 12.7 average) in eight ODIs, including 4/12 against West Indies and 4/28 against England, both at the SCG. However, the tour of Pakistan that followed was ruined for Lillee by flat batting pitches prepared by local curators to blunt his effectiveness. He managed just three wickets in three Tests.

Australian and world records[link]

Statue of Lillee at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Against New Zealand and India in 1980–81, Lillee took 37 wickets in six Tests and was the leading bowler in the World Series Cup for the second successive season. He contributed 25 wickets to Australia's first victory in the competition. After breaking Richie Benaud's Australian Test record of 248 wickets, Lillee toured England in 1981 when his preparation was compromised by a viral infection. A return of 39 Test wickets (at 22.30) for series was the best of his career^[1] and he won man of the match awards in the first and last Tests. Lillee formed a penetrative partnership with fellow West Australian Terry Alderman, who claimed an Australian record of 41 wickets.^[10] Despite possessing this potent attack, Australia lost the series by 1–3 when Ian Botham turned in a series of brilliant individual performances.^[11]

Granted a testimonial for 1981–82, Lillee's season got off to a poor start when he was involved in the infamous incident with Javed Miandad (see below) in the first Test of the summer. Suspended for two ODIs, the level of his on-field aggression was again criticised. However, he continued taking wickets: 15 in three Tests against Pakistan and 16 in three Tests against the West Indies. Against the latter, his 7/83 and 3/44 at the MCG in the first Test took him past the world record for the most Test wickets held by Lance Gibbs.^[12] His ODI season was less successful, with 12 wickets in 12 games. His best effort was 2/18 in ten overs against the West Indies during the third final of the World Series Cup, the only match in the final series Australia was able to win.^[13]

Retirement[link]

Bowling as a first-change, Lillee had an uneventful tour of New Zealand in March and April 1982 before suffering a serious knee injury in the first Ashes Test at the WACA Ground in November of the same year. This forced him to miss the rest of the series and Australia's 2–1 victory, which reclaimed the Ashes. Returning to the team for the latter stages of the World Series Cup, Lillee was no longer an automatic choice to take the new ball. Nevertheless, his 11 wickets in six ODIs helped Australia win the tournament with a victory over New Zealand in the final.

His wicket-taking capacity was diminishing. During Australia's brief tour of Sri Lanka in 1983, Lillee took three wickets at Kandy in the inaugural Test between the two nations and went wicket-less in two ODIs. Later in the year, his ODI career finished during the third World Cup in England when he conceded 52 runs from 12 overs in the match against the West Indies at Lord's. Dropped from the team, Lillee acknowledged that he was not fully fit, but he remained motivated to continue in Test cricket by the number of people who had written him off.

During the first two Tests of 1983–84 against Pakistan at Perth, he took only one wicket and looked set to be dropped from the Test team as well. Fate intervened when Carl Rackemann, the man of the match from the second Test, was injured. This allowed Lillee to play the rest of the Test series and he finished with 20 wickets at 31.65. Along with Greg Chappell he announced his retirement during the final Test at Sydney, and took eight wickets, including a wicket with his last delivery in the match.^[14]

Caught Marsh bowled Lillee[link]

The Lillee-Marsh stand at the WACA Ground

Throughout his Australian career Lillee was also famous for his partnership with wicketkeeper Rod Marsh, and the scorecard entry 'c Marsh b Lillee' appeared 95 times in Tests, a partnership record between wicketkeeper and bowler that is yet to be broken. Coincidentally, both players ended their careers with 355 Test dismisals; Marsh took 343 catches and had 12 stumpings. They also shared much success at first-class level, playing for West Australia.

Statistics correct at 4 August 2009. Source:[1].

Controversy[link]

Aluminium bat incident[link]

During a Test at the WACA Ground in December 1979 between Australia and England, Lillee went to the crease with an aluminium bat manufactured by a company owned by a personal friend. There were no rules against using such a bat, but trouble began when Lillee hit a ball that went for three runs. Australian captain Greg Chappell thought that the ball should have gone for a four, and instructed Rodney Hogg to deliver a conventional wooden bat to Lillee. As this was happening, English captain Mike Brearley complained to the umpires that the bat was damaging the ball.

Lillee refused to change the bat. Brearley, Lillee, and the umpires held an animated discussion for almost ten minutes, before Chappell insisted that Lillee should change bats. In a fit of pique, Lillee threw "the offending lump of metal fully 40 yards towards the pavilion",^[15] and grudgingly took the wooden bat. He was not disciplined by the ACB for this incident. After the game, sales of the bat skyrocketed for a few months, before the laws of the game were amended, specifying that bats had to be made from wood.

Betting[link]

At Headingley on the 1981 tour of England, Australia was in such a strong position at one stage of the third Test that bookmakers at the ground were offering odds of 500–1 on an England victory. These odds were flashed on the scoreboard during a break in the game and noticed by the Australian players. Lillee and Rod Marsh believed that the odds were so ludicrous that, via a third party, they each put a small wager on the outcome, later describing their actions as a "joke". Between them, they collected 7,500 pounds when England pulled off a comeback victory.^[16] Both men openly discussed the incident and received no official censure or sanction, although some criticised their actions.^[17] There has never been a suggestion that the bets compromised their efforts in the game. However, the issue has been re-examined in modern times following the match-fixing scandals that have plagued international cricket since the mid-1990s.^[18]

Lillee vs Miandad[link]

Described by Wisden as "one of the most undignified incidents in Test history",^[19] the clash between Lillee and Pakistani batsman Javed Miandad occurred during the first Test at Perth in 1981.

Miandad turned Lillee behind square for a single, and in completing an easy run, he collided with the bowler. Eyewitnesses agreed that Lillee was to blame and most observed that he had deliberately moved into the batsman's path. The two players' versions of events differ ... As Lillee turned to go back to his mark he maintained that Miandad struck him from behind with his bat; Miandad countered with the claim that Lillee had kicked him as he passed. What isn't in doubt is that Lillee then turned to confront Miandad, and Miandad lifted his bat above his head as if to strike him. The unedifying images of Tony Crafter, the umpire, stepping in to hold back Lillee while Miandad wielded his bat like a deranged javelin thrower were beamed around the world. ... The media were in no doubt where the blame lay–with Lillee. Bob Simpson, the former Australian captain, wrote that it was "the most disgraceful thing I have seen on a cricket field". Keith Miller, in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph, added that Lillee "should be suspended for the rest of the season," and Ian Chappell added that Lillee's actions were those of "a spoiled, angry child". But Greg Chappell, Australia's captain, supported Lillee and ... even suggested that it has all been part of a plot by Pakistan to entrap Lillee. The Australian players–who sat in judgment on such matters in those days–announced that Lillee would be fined A$200, a decision which attracted almost as much anger as the incident itself. The two umpires complained at the leniency of the punishment, and the Australian Board acted swiftly, reducing the fine to A$120 but adding a two-match ban. Cynics noted that the punishment ensured that Lillee missed two fairly low-key one-day internationals, and none of the Tests.^[20]

After retirement[link]

Lillee made a brief comeback to first-class cricket in 1987–88 for Tasmania, taking a wicket with his first ball.^[21] In 1988, he played eight matches for English county team Northants and suffered a severe ankle injury.^[22] In his recent autobiography, Lillee claimed that he played again as a preparation for a possible comeback to the Australian team that was suggested by the then captain Allan Border.^[23]

During the 1990s and in the early years of the 21st century Lillee has dedicated himself to mentoring and coaching young bowlers, most notably Brett Lee and Shaun Tait. Lillee continued playing competitive cricket until 1999 for the traditional ACB President's XI match against touring sides at Lilac Hill. In his final match he took three wickets and played alongside his son Adam.

He has also appeared in many TV commercials for items as diverse as carpets, work boots, glucosamine tablets to relieve osteoarthritis symptoms and solar power companies.

Since 2004 he has been the president of the Western Australian Cricket Association.^[24]

Honours, awards, records and accolades[link]

• He was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1973.
• He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1981.^[25]
• He was one of the ten inaugural inductees into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 1996.
• He was selected in the official Australian Test Team of the Century.
• He was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000.^[26]
• He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours of 2010.^[27]
• He was immortalized in the Men at Work song "No Restrictions" (Cargo, 1983) with the line: "Hear the cricket calling, switch on the TV, sit and stare for hours, and cheer Dennis Lillee".
• He was also mentioned in the Iain Campbell Smith song "Blue Guitar". In a lyric where the narrator is describing unlikely, fantastic events he sings "I hit a six off Dennis Lillee and I clean bowled Gavaskar". When performing in the United States, Smith will often change the lyric to "I scored thirty-seven points off of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar."

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• Brayshaw, Ian (1983). Caught Marsh, Bowled Lillee. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ISBN 0-642-97447-0. 

External links[link]

• Player profile: Dennis Lillee from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Dennis Lillee from CricketArchive
• HowSTAT! statistical profile of Dennis Lillee
• Infamous Cricket Incidents - Dennis Lillee vs Javed Miandad
• Dennis Lillee interviewed on Enough Rope (transcript), 28 April 2003
• Lillee and Thomson interviewed (video), 2007

Cricket portal

v t e Australia squad – 1975 Cricket World Cup Runners-Up 1 IM Chappell (c) 2 GS Chappell 3 Edwards 4 Gilmour 5 Lillee 6 McCosker 7 Mallett 8 Marsh (wk) 9 Thomson 10 Turner 11 Walker 12 Walters

v t e Australia squad – World Series Cricket 1 Chappell, I (c) 2 Bright 3 Chappell, G 4 Chappell, T 5 Davis 6 Edwards 7 Gilmour 8 Hookes 9 Kent 10 Laird 11 Langer 12 Lillee 13 McCosker 14 Malone 15 Marsh (wk) 16 Pascoe 17 Prior 18 Redpath 19 Robinson (wk) 20 Thomson 21 Walker 22 Walters 23 Wessels