With Dennis Lillee’s chain around his neck, Italy’s Australia-bred pacer Thomas Draca ready for a historic run at T20 World Cup
Italy’s Australia-bred pacer Thomas Draca will run in this T20 World Cup with history swinging around his neck – a chain once worn by Dennis Lillee. To others, it’s just a chain. To him, it’s inheritance. He calls Lillee family.
“He’s actually given me his World Series chain. It’s got his Test cap and his signature on it. He gave me that for my 21st birthday. In this World Cup, I’ll be wearing it, and I want to do him proud. He is probably the reason why I’ve continued to play, and the reason why I want to bowl fast. I wouldn’t be here without him,” said the 25-year-old after his team’s 112-run win over the UAE in a warm-up match in Chennai on Friday.
Their bond began over wine. “My dad’s a bit of a wine connoisseur. He grew up watching Dennis, but they bonded over wine. Dennis asked if I played, offered a session, and from that day, we had an unbelievable bond. I call him my uncle,” he said.
What Lillee gave him was method. “His philosophy is just to work hard and be very fit.” When Draca suffered a stress fracture, the diagnosis was blunt. “He said: ‘You’re not running enough. You have to train like a sprinter.’”
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The stories stuck. “Dennis told a funny story. In the team hotel, the boys would go downstairs for a drink and hear upstairs – thud, thud, thud – and he’d be running in his corridor,” Draca said.
He lives by that: “After this interview, I’m going for a run. The boys think I’m crazy.”
He doesn’t. Because when he runs in now – fitter, faster, and unbroken – Lillee runs with him. In philosophy, in habit, and soon, in chain.
Published on Feb 08, 2026
