RIP Graham Dilley

[Smart Mart]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/15185575.s...

Shocking news, I didn't even know he was ill!

Remember being a big fan of his when I was at school and trying to copy his peculiar action where he dragged his right foot across the bowling crease prior to delivery. Obviously his career highlight was his brilliant support of Ian Botham in the 1981 Ashes at Headingley where he, along with Chris Old and Bob Willis, held up an end while Botham smashed the Aussies all round Yorkshire.

Not to mention Lillee c Willey b Dilley of course.

RIP Graham Dilley aged just 52.

[Nom de ploom]

sad news indeed....1981 Headingley...supporting Botham and Willey to win that famous test...underrated bowler, used to drag his back foot and cut holes in his boot iirc...

52, crikey, no age that..

Rest in Peace.

[steve2]

sad news

[V41LEY]

Sad news indeed.
My mind is cast back to those carefree days in the summer of 81 when I between school and a job
and the excitement of that test series in what was a pretty depressing time for the country.

[Black can man]

So so sad


Botham was the star, but the real hero was Dilley

Another one of my boyhood heroes dies

RIP Graham dilley

[Beardy10]

Pretty much my earliest vivid cricketing moment is the '81 Ashes.....that swashbuckling 50 at Headingley was out of nowhere...as others have said it was he and Botham in tandem that really did it. Very unusual action....but it worked for him.

RIP, from an era when sportsmen were sportsmen and not blurred with the cult of celebrity (apart from Beefy)....and all the better for it.

[Guffy]

Beardy10 said:

Pretty much my earliest vivid cricketing moment is the '81 Ashes.....that swashbuckling 50 at Headingley was out of nowhere...as others have said it was he and Botham in tandem that really did it. Very unusual action....but it worked for him.

RIP, from an era when sportsmen were sportsmen and not blurred with the cult of celebrity (apart from Beefy)....and all the better for it.

Sums it for me Beardy, many a happy memory of that era. RIP Dilley.

[central]

Shocking

[CooperD]

Very sad news and at a relatively young age. RIP

[Get Karter]

Just heard the terrible news this evening.

Like many here, my best childhood memory of cricket was the '81 Ashes, and along with Both and Willis, Dilley was a hero for me.

I still remember that amazing catch he took just inside the ropes in Australia's 2nd innings at Headingley.

[Beardy10]

Get Karter said:

I still remember that amazing catch he took just inside the ropes in Australia's 2nd innings at Headingley.

You've just jogged my memory there....is that the one he took back pedalling ?

Edited by Beardy10 on Wednesday 5th October 21:42

[Get Karter]

Beardy10 said:

Get Karter said:

I still remember that amazing catch he took just inside the ropes in Australia's 2nd innings at Headingley.

You've just jogged my memory there....is that the one he took back pedalling ?

Edited by Beardy10 on Wednesday 5th October 21:42

Yep. It looked like he jarred his ankle when he took it...but I think he was just trying to make sure he didn't step over the boundary.

I remember in that innings with Both, how betewen overs they had a laugh with each other in the middle of the wicket. Iconic images of English cricket for me.

[captainzep]

Very sad news.

[hornetrider]

Yeah just read about this, very sad, 52 is no age

[Nom de ploom]

the R5L cricket correspondent made some realyl lovely comments last night abuopt him as a person and also what a terrific bowler he was, a very nice piece.

I think it was aggers about 7:30pm iirc

[Smart Mart]

Nom de ploom said:

the R5L cricket correspondent made some realyl lovely comments last night abuopt him as a person and also what a terrific bowler he was, a very nice piece.

I think it was aggers about 7:30pm iirc

Sounds like Aggers, he did a nice tribute on Twitter yesterday, no mean feat in 140 characters. Think they were a similar age and had played together at youth level.

[central]

Smart Mart said:

Nom de ploom said:

the R5L cricket correspondent made some realyl lovely comments last night abuopt him as a person and also what a terrific bowler he was, a very nice piece.

I think it was aggers about 7:30pm iirc

Sounds like Aggers, he did a nice tribute on Twitter yesterday, no mean feat in 140 characters. Think they were a similar age and had played together at youth level.

Pat Murphy's tribute -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/15185575.s...

[5pen]

Very sad news. As a Kent lad growing up in the 80s he was my favourite player (he was a bit more swashbuckling than Chris Tavare!) and I remember trying to mimic his distinctive action.

He suffered from more than his fair share of injuries and I remember once seeing him in Dartford driving his Triumph Acclaim(!) whilst wearing a neck brace during one of his long absences from the game.

RIP Dills.

[Rollcage]

Very sad to hear this. As a keen 11 year old cricketer the 81 Ashes was a series that I watched avidly, along with the rest of the nation, and I suspect that like many on here those memories will live on for years to come - Dilley was a big part of them.

RIP - gone too young.

[DJRC]

Class bowler.