Lillee cleared to tour

Press, 9 February 1982, Page 32

Lillee cleared to tour

NZPA Perth The Australian pace bowler Dennis Lillee has been passed fit for the 11match Australian cricket tour of New Zealand beginning this week. Lillee underwent a medical examination in Perth yesterday following his breakdown with strained groin muscles in the third test against the West Indies in Melbourne last week.

The seven-strong West Australian complement will link up with the remainder of the 13-man squad in Melbourne today, before flying to New Zealand tomorrow.

Lillee’s recovery ends the chances of either the fellow West Australian Mick Malone or the New South Wales paceman Geoff Lawson gaining a last-minute spot in the team. Lillee now has the opportunity to boost even further his world record test wicket haul, which currently stands at 321.

The Australians will play three tests in New Zealand, with a one-day international in Auckland on Saturday opening the tour programme.

The man facing the biggest test on tour could be the Australian captain Greg Chappell, who is still striking flak over his ordering of his brother Trevor to bowl underarm in a one-day international final against New Zealand in Melbourne last year.

The former great West Indian all-rounder, Sir Garfield Sobers, joined Chappell’s long list of critics when he spoke out in Bunda-

berg, Queensland, at the week-end.

At a sports presentation awards night, Sir Garfield said Chappell would never lire the incident down and called his action “a great disappointment.” Apart from the likely hostile reception from New Zealand crowds, Chappell is battling a broken finger and the worst form lapse of his career.

The Australian batting line-up, no doubt pleased to be rid of the West Indian pace barrage, will now prepare to face the venom of New Zealand’s own fast bowling hero, Richard Hadlee.

' The weaknesses in Chappell’s batting against the West Indian speedster Michael Holding, in particular, will not have been lost on Hadlee.

However, speaking from his home in Christchurch yesterday, Hadlee hinted that Chappell’s recent batting form could change once he gets to New Zealand.

“Everyone is aware of his failures in Australia but

every great player goes through a bad trot and then he is due to fire again,” he said.

“I only hope Chappell doesn’t fire again in New Zealand.”

In the past, Chappell had been dismissed through the slips cordon, and the New Zealand bowlers would be exploiting that area this time, said Hadlee.

“He is vulnerable, like any player, to the ball moving away, in the air or off the seam,” he said.

"But he is such a great player that he is good enough to get a nick, whereas guys of a lesser ability don’t come close to hitting the ball — they plav and miss it. Commenting on Lillee's fitness clearance, Hadlee said he was happy to see that the fast bowler would be joining the tour.

“Now we can resume the battle on the field that has been going on between us for some years,” he said.

“I think the tour may have lost something if Lillee hadn’t have been there,” Hadlee said.