Hidden truth behind Dennis Lillee’s iconic Ashes photo

Australian cricket legend Dennis Lillee has revealed the extreme measures he would take to avoid the national team’s heavy drinking culture.

In the 1970s, rarely would you find an Australian cricketer in the sheds following a Test match without a beer in their hands.

Rod Marsh, Doug Walters, the Chappell brothers – it became commonplace for these cricket icons to enjoy a beverage or two after a long day’s play.

But Dennis Lillee was not interested in joining his teammates.

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Speaking to the Herald Sun, the Australian cricket legend revealed he never drank beer in the Australian changerooms despite the team’s heavy drinking culture, but he found a way to avoid being segregated from the national side.

Lillee made his Test debut in the 1970/71 Ashes series, where Australia failed to muster a victory in seven matches against England.

It was a tumultuous home summer for the Australians, during which captain Bill Lawry was brutally axed after the sixth Test in Adelaide.

But a rare highlight for the Aussies was the emergence of Lillee, who claimed a five-wicket haul on Test debut at Adelaide Oval.

Dennis Lillee is congratulated by teammates. Picture: West Australian newspapers

The speedster bowled 28.3 eight-ball overs in the first innings, finishing with figures of 5/84 to help dismiss the visitors for 470.

The moment was immortalised in a photo of Lillee downing a longneck in the sheds after play, but the cricketer has revealed there’s more to the iconic image than meets the eye.

“After a long day, bowling thirty odd overs, I would pour a shandy, and I enjoyed that,” he told News Corp.

“I used to throw down a few bottles of that right at the end of days play. There’s a photo of me necking a long neck, but what people didn’t know was that it had a third of lemonade in it!

“All sport in those days had a beer culture, I just didn’t like beer, so I didn’t drink. I wasn’t part of the scene if you like, they didn’t treat me badly as a result, but I wasn’t a part of the culture at that stage.”

Dennis Lillee enjoying a longneck.

Cricketer Dennis Lillee bowling during his first test match.

Lillee finished his Test career with 355 wickets a stellar average of 23.92, claiming 23 five-wicket hauls for his country.

He was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 1996 and selected in the official Australian Test Team of the Century.

Last week, Lillee was elevated to “Legend” status in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame alongside Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe.

“It is such an honour, it really is,” Lillee said.

“It is the who’s who of Australian sport, and I really am humbled. The truth is though, Thorpey shouldn’t be in the same category as me … I should be one below him. He is an Olympic God, and that is an area reserved for very, very few.”

Read Hamish McLachlan’s full interview with Dennis Lillee on the Herald Sun