Lillee fears young Oz bowlers will breakdown if miss net practice, grade cricket

Former Australian pace bowler Dennis Lillee has said that he fears the nation's young fast bowlers will continue to break down unless they spend more time training to harden their bodies.

According to News.com.au, President of the Western Australian Cricket Association for the past decade, Lillee has also been a strong advocate of state and national players competing in grade cricket, a stance reinforced by current WACA coach Justin Langer.

Australia currently has four front line fast bowlers out with long-term back injuries, Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson, Jackson Bird and Pat Cummins, the report said.

Lillee claimed that if he did not have a big Saturday bowling in club cricket he would bowl flat out in the nets for one to two hours three times a week, the report added.

Lillee said that it is one of the things today that the young lads did not do, and he harps on about it, that they do not spend a lot of time in the nets.

He added that he knew the bowlers play a lot of games but they do not spend a lot of time in the nets and when they do it is very much half-paced, and so their body does not get attuned to fast bowling, causing a break down.