ADELAIDE: Former Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee led the tributes at much-loved cricketer Rod Marsh’s funeral on Thursday, describing the wicketkeeper-batsman who died earlier this month as a unique man with whom he developed a lasting friendship.

Marsh, who played 96 Tests in the 1970s and 1980s, died at the age of 74 in Adelaide, eight days after suffering a heart attack while on his way to a charity event in Queensland.

“Caught Marsh, bowled Lillee” appeared on Test scorecards 95 times as the moustachioed Western Australian combination wreaked havoc on opposing batting orders in a golden era for cricket Down Under.

“It’s taken me days to be able to write my thoughts down on this amazing bloke,” Lillee said in Adelaide. “I don’t want to talk about his cricket ability because that’s been very well documented — it’s the person Rod Marsh that I loved.

“It’s something that grew over time, even after our careers were finished.”

Marsh’s casket, with purple and white flowers on top, was in front of the podium as a number of speakers came forward during the service. At the end of the service, the casket made a final circuit of the pitch at Adelaide Oval, with past cricketers forming a guard of honour.

Lillee attended Thursday’s service at the stadium’s William Magarey Room, as did former national captains Ian Chappell and Allan Border, pace great Jeff Thomson and former test player David Boon. Other more recent ex-Test players included Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden and Ian Healy.

Lillee, who made his Test debut in the same Ashes series as Marsh, told around 800 people in attendance that his friendship with the wicket-keeper did not get off to the best start.

“One day after a day’s play, him, unusually with a beer in his hand and me pouring a full-strength soft drink ready to chat, he said to me, ‘I gotta tell you, I don’t trust you’,” Lillee said to laughter.

“Gradually our friendship blossomed. I miss my mate and will keep remembering the good times. He was a one-off.”

Marsh and Lillee retired after a Test against Pakistan in 1984. Both finished with 355 dismissals, records at the time for a wicket-keeper and for a fast bowler.

Marsh played in the first One-day International in 1970 and retired from top-level cricket after his 92nd ODI, against the West Indies in February 1984.

A left-handed batter, he was the first Australian wicketkeeper to score a century in test cricket against Pakistan at Adelaide in 1972 and finished his career with three. He later led the national cricket academies in Australia and in England and was the inaugural head of the International Cricket Council’s world coaching academy in Dubai.

In 2014, he was appointed as Australia’s chairman of selectors and held the position for two years.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2022