THE man stands tall as a supreme example. He has seen it all, been through it all and is speaking from the heart... for the good of Indian cricket.
His message -"Professionalism should be in your approach to your trade, not just in terms of monetary benefits." Priceless words indeed.
Dennis Lillee, the awesome fast bowler of the seventies and eighties, was in Chennai recently to guide the aspirants at the MRF Pace Foundation. Something he enjoys doing.
During the period, the golden Aussie also had a look at the Big Boys - the Indian pacemen - who had a short stint at the clinic, on the advice of National coach John Wright.
These are clearly troubled times in the Indian pace bowling scene with Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, promising left-arm seamers, both initially picked for the tour of South Africa (ODIs), coming under scrutiny on fitness grounds.
Zaheer, complaining of a tendon problem in his instep, eventually pulled out of the squad, while Nehra, battling with a groin strain, left the city under an injury cloud, with the BCCI doctor Anant Joshi, unhappy at his condition. Lillee's eagle eyes also viewed them from close quarters.
The Australian had this to say about Nehra : "He appeared to be bowling at only 50 per cent of his capacity. He moved gingerly and appeared to be carrying an injury. But then, I am only telling from what I saw, and ultimately it's for a doctor to decide."
Lillee was right. Nehra failed a fitness test in Mumbai conducted by Indian physio Andrew Leipus two days before the team's departure for South Africa.
Lillee felt Zaheer chose the right path by opting out. "This should benefit him in the long run. He has a lot of cricket ahead of him." Lillee suspects that the injury might have been triggered by the Baroda paceman landing in a 'rough.'
The Aussie noted that though modern technology might help bring to light previously undetected injuries, it ultimately boiled down to a player's honesty and integrity.
"In the end if you don't tell the truth, you are not only letting yourself down, but also the team. That's probably the worst thing a player can do," thundered Lillee.
With so much money available in the game these days, the stakes are high, and this coupled with a feeling of insecurity resulted in quite a few players hiding injuries. Some of them believing they might never get another opportunity.
Lillee slammed this tendency. "That's an extremely short-term view to take. If you are good enough, you would still be picked when you recover."
Yet, those rendered hors de combat while representing the country required some cover, and the Aussie great conceded a system of having a certain number of players under contracts might remove some of the fears and apprehensions. "That could help."
Turning to Anil Kumble, Lillee said the Karnataka leggie was a glowing example in this regard. "He has probably prolonged his career by a long, long way. He's a very honourable man. Dedicated, committed. It was not the easiest options for him to take when he took a long break, but is much the better off for it."
Calling fast bowling the toughest job on a cricket field, Lillee stated that a paceman had to be stronger than the rest. "He is like the centre-forward in a football team. No matter how fit you are, you can always get injured. Some withstand the pain more, others succumb. As you get tired, your technique can break down."
The key factors according to Lillee were fitness and strength, that should be backed by a fine technique. Talking about the physical attributes, the West Australian said 'trunk' was the vital area for a paceman. "If your trunk is strong, your back will be strong as well."
He recommended exercises with the Swiss ball for this purpose, which should be followed by aerobics and workouts in the gym. "It's bloody hard work, but then fast bowling is a hard job."
Lillee felt a paceman had to be perfectly balanced at the point of delivery. And a lot of injuries were caused due to the "counter-rotation" of the hip and shoulder.
Though technically, a front-on action was a lot more balanced, Lillee added a true side-on release with "no hyperextension" should be less injury prone as well. "That is an effective method too."
And one of the principal reasons for pacemen getting injured was a past side-on action - this flawed method haunted India's Ajit Agarkar. "He was put on the right course. I think he is not suffering from a similar problem now."
On Srinath, Lillee said, "He was falling away slightly and tending to push the ball in. He has realised that, made the adjustment, and is beginning to bowl outswingers again."
And the action was dependent on a lot of other things. "It's not just about the delivery stride. We take it a long way back - the run-up, the leap... everything is important. Any glitch anywhere can result in an injury."
Often, it was not just outward appearance, but inner strength, the willingness of the body to shoulder the burden at the end of a long, hot, tiring day, that determined a paceman's career. "The bowlers have realised this. I could see Srinath and Prasad sweating it out at the gym. They are into their 30s, and realise the importance of staying in shape."
The Australian believes that the very nature of the job puts enormous stress on the pacemen's spine, groin, neck, and shoulder. Add to this the busy modern day cricketing schedules with a welter of ODIs often clubbed with a Test series, and the result is a spate of injuries.
Lillee advocated a rotation policy, with a pool of pacemen to choose from. Here, he said cricket could take a leaf out of American baseball's books.
"The pitchers' job in baseball is similar to that of a fast bowler in cricket. Yet, there are only a specific number of games they can play in the season. It's not that they are just resting when they miss the games, but are actually put through a recuperation programme. It certainly helps in reducing the number of injuries," observed Lillee.
The Australian himself had surmounted a major injury hurdle to evolve into a fast bowling superstar. He had three stress fractures on the spine, that went untreated until he eventually broke down in the early seventies. A phase where he lived on hope and little else.
"The doctors told me I might never play again. I underwent surgery. I wasn't allowed to do anything for six to seven months. Gradually, I built up my trunk strength. Then I started bowling at a reduced pace. I was past side-on when the injury occurred. I changed that. Mentally it was a huge thing for me. I missed around 20 Tests, and often it was very frustrating," recalled Lillee, who in a stirring comeback, emerged much stronger in all aspects of his cricket.
Yes, there are few more qualified to air their views on the subject of injuries than this cricketing legend. And he's saying the right things. But are the right people listening?
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