Not many of us ever get one letter from our hero,unless you count the photocopied template ones when you joined Sherbet’s fan club in the olden days. Chris has now received two from the desk of the great man.
I wrote about the first Lillee correspondence a few weeks ago. To recap,Chris wrote to Lillee in 1983:“You’re my inspiration. This season I went from the U/13Cs to the As and with that trajectory it’s a matter of time before we’re sharing the new ball.”
Five months later Lillee (who’d been busy at the World Cup in England) replied,sharing wisdom in perfect cord cursive:“The key to being successful in anything is never giving up.” Chris sealed the letter in a Perspex display case to show to envious mates,then lost it in a house move.
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Chris never got over it. In his lost-tapes vault of hits and memories,it’s a treasure greater than the time he trampolined on Trevor Barker’s TV sports segment or when his Mum brought a lion cub home from the zoo for a play.
So,given the weight of the original’s legacy,he freaked out about opening this 2023 letter. What if it was a ruse? Had I penned it in the guise of D.K.,a la Santa letters in parents’ familiar writing? He slit the envelope,carefully preserving the sender’s return address (yep – howzat!) Inside,a photo.
D.K. in the final stride of his run-up during a ’72 Ashes Test in England,Chris said instantly. Hair flying,ready to destroy stumps and nerves.