Lillee's One Day International (ODI) debut came against England in 1972. His sole five-wicket haul in ODIs came against Pakistan during the Prudential World Cup (1975) at Headingley. As of 2012, Lillee's combined tally of 24 five-wicket hauls is eleventh in the all-time list, a record jointly held with Sydney Barnes, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Dale Steyn.