On This Day: Dennis Lillee walked in to bat with an Aluminium bat

Dennis Lillee was known for the sheer pace that he bowled with and tormented the batsmen in every condition. But he made the headlines for his batting too. His batting was not the art to be credited but the fact that he actually stepped in to bat with an Aluminium bat!

On 15 December 1979, during the first Test match between England and Australia at Perth, the Aussie speedster walked in with an Aluminium bat on the field. This was not the first instance when Lillee used this bat. About couple of weeks earlier, Lillee had taken the same bat to play during a Test against the West Indies. He could get bat to ball only once and hence the Windies did not bother much.

But during the Perth Test against England, the shrieking sound of Aluminium hitting the ball put the fielders in a spot of bother. Australia ended the day with 232/8 with Lillee playing on 11. The next morning, Greg Chappell saw the pacer playing with the bat making a lot of noise but did not care much to speak anything then. Later during the days play, he could see that the Aluminium bat wasn’t the best way to play.

He quickly asked Hogg, the 12^th man, to go and bring back the aluminium bat and replace it with the willow. Rodney did as ordered, only to come back with the willow saying that a furious Lillee refused to give back the Aluminium bat. The umpires, Max O’Connell and Doug Weser stopped to confer about the bat.

Moments later, the English skipper Mike Brearley started to complain as the bat had started damaging the new ball. The play was stopped as the umpires had a long discussion with a seething Lillee. On being asked, Hogg refused to play delivery boy again. So, Chappell himself walked out with the willow and approached the pitch.

When he was about 22 yards from Lillee, he heard a whirring noise. The aluminium bat flew over his head and landed some yards behind him. Chappell calmly handed his fast bowler the willow and walked to the dressing room, picking up the offending piece of metal on his way back.

On This Day: Dennis Lillee walked in to bat with an Aluminium bat: