Graham Dilley

England

Full name Graham Roy Dilley

Born May 18, 1959, Dartford, Kent

Died October 5, 2011 (aged 52 years 140 days)

Major teams England, Kent, Natal, Worcestershire

Nickname Dill, Picca

Batting style Left-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm fast

Other Coach

Height 6 ft 4 in

Education Dartford West Secondary School

Relation Brother-in-law - GW Johnson, Son - JJ Dilley

Explore Graham Dilley's performance

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	41	58	19	521	56	13.35	1494	34.87	2	63	0	10
ODIs	36	18	8	114	31*	11.40	133	85.71	0	11	0	4
First-class	234	252	93	2339	81	14.71			4			75
List A	207	94	34	675	37*	11.25			0			40

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	41	65	8192	4107	138	6/38	9/128	29.76	3.00	59.3	11	6	0
ODIs	36	36	2043	1291	48	4/23	4/23	26.89	3.79	42.5	3	0	0
First-class	234		34418	17395	648	7/63		26.84	3.03	53.1		34	3
List A	207		10438	6397	279	5/29	5/29	22.92	3.67	37.4	12	2	0

Career statistics

Test debut	Australia v England at Perth, Dec 14-19, 1979 scorecard
Last Test	England v Australia at Birmingham, Jul 6-11, 1989 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	England v West Indies at Sydney, Nov 28, 1979 scorecard
Last ODI	England v West Indies at Leeds, May 21, 1988 scorecard
ODI statistics
First-class span	1977 - 1992
List A span	1978 - 1992

Profile

Graham Dilley was plucked from Kent as a 20-year-old and taken to Australia in 1979-80 as the Great White Hope fast bowler. Tall, blond, good-looking and seriously quick, he had obvious star quality. But though he played 41 Tests and in several of them lived up to his billing, his career meandered through loss of rhythm - his action was always a bit ugly and chest-on - and some thoroughly nasty injuries. He reached his peak in 1986 and 1987 when he was undisputed as England's spearhead, but it was his fate to be remembered more for supporting Ian Botham as a batsman at Headingley 1981. After retirement, he endured a period of well-publicised poverty, caused partly by his impulsive mid-career move from Kent to Worcestershire, which meant he never got a benefit. He returned to the cricket fold with a spell as bowling coach to the England women's team, and was appointed assistant coach of the men's side for the tour of India in 2001-02. He died aged just 52 in 2011 following a short illness.
Matthew Engel

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