Lillee vs de Villiers
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Lillee wins: Dominance, Honours
de Villiers wins: Longevity, Statistics
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Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Lillee leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. 355 Test wickets and the defining fast bowler of the 1970s.
Category breakdown
Season form · Centuries per year
Career timeline · Centuries per year
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through year 5 · Centuries per year| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺 Lillee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 171 |
| 🇿🇦 de Villiers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 135 | 435 |
Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 years are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.
| Metric | LilleeRetired | de VilliersRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Test wickets | 355 | — |
| Bowling average | 23.92 | — |
| Five-wicket hauls | 23 | — |
| Test matches | 70 | — |
| ODI wickets | 103 | — |
| Test runs | — | 8,765 |
| ODI runs | — | 9,577 |
| ODI average | — | 53.5 |
| Fastest ODI century (balls) | — | 31 |
| ICC Player of the Year | — | 1 |
| Test centuries | — | 22 |
| Dominance w25% | 86 | 82 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 78 | 82 |
| Honours w20% | 80 | 78 |
| Statistics w15% | 90 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
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