Dennis Lillee's Aluminium Cricket Bat

The Dennis Lillee Combat is a hollow aluminium cricket bat manufactured as an alternative to standard wooden bats. The bat caused a great deal of controversy when Dennis Lillee used it in a December 1979 Test match, in Perth against England.

The bat was manufactured by a friend of Lillee and was intended only as a cheap alternative for schools and developing countries. However, Lillee chose to use it in the Test match and at that time, the rules did not outlaw bats made of other materials. Lillee had actually used an aluminium bat 12 days prior against the West Indies in a Test match.

The Aluminium Bat Combat
Arriving at the crease on the second day of the first Test in the series against England in Perth, December 1979, Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee faced four deliveries with this bat and made an additional three runs to his overnight score before England captain Mike Brearley complained to the umpires that the unorthodox ‘Combat’ was damaging the ball. After a 15-minute delay, during which Lillee hurled the bat away in apparent disgust, the match resumed with a conventional willow blade. The national publicity generated by the incident promoted the aluminium bat’s presence in the market but forced the Marylebone Cricket Club to introduce a new law ‘The blade shall consist solely of wood’ – Law 6b(4).