T20 will influence ODI rather than Test: Lillee

Australian pace legend Dennis Lillee visibly feels that the latest slam-bang version of the game T20 would create more impact on One Day Internationals (ODI) rather than Test cricket in the long run.

The former great admitted, “Though Test cricket remained closest to his heart, he was pretty excited about T20 cricket and felt that it involves more skill and is more “instant” which made it more marketable.”

Lillee cleared his stand on the shorter version of the game while sharing his views with the mediapersons after his first session with the Delhi Daredevils as a senior advisor. Lillee also expressed happiness at the Daredevils team’s quality and the spirit of camaraderie at the dressing room and practice sessions.

“Successful teams have also been happy teams and this is a good beginning”, he enthused. The cricket legend highlighted that Delhi Daredevils team has many capable all-rounders. “In his view, that’s going to be a huge plus for the team,” Lillee opined.

“I would be more involved in an advisory role like picking future players and coaches and giving my inputs in everyway possible”, he said.

This is been Lillee’s first stint with any domestic Indian cricket team after he has been involved with the MRF pace academy in Chennai for the past two decades and more recently with the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore.

Lillee also revealed that he was among the first to embrace T20 cricket in Australia when even Cricket Australia was not serious about it. Lillee in the capacity of the chairman of Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) took the initiative to organize the first ever T20 match in Australia between Western Australia and Victoria.

Replying on the frequent injuries occurring to fast bowlers as they are nowadays more prone to injuries and frequent breakdowns, Lillee was forthright in saying, “It is obviously due to too much cricket and cramped schedules”.

“The recovery time is less in between the matches and “no player likes to miss a match to give others a chance,” Lillee clarified.

“Only the cricket administrators would rectify it by formulating a workable rotation policy,” Lillee added.

Dennis Lillee would initially be available for the first four matches of the Delhi Daredevils before returning for work to Australia. However, he has promised that he will join the outfit back once the team qualifies for the knockout stages of the tournament.