Ray Illingworth
Encyclopedia
Raymond Illingworth, CBE (born 8 June 1932 in Pudsey
, Yorkshire
) is a former English
cricketer
, cricket
commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so. He played for Yorkshire
(1951–68 and 1982–83), Leicestershire
(1969–78) and England (1958–73) and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1960.
in 1970 Illingworth topped the England averages with 476 runs (52.89) and six half-centuries, a testament to his grit and determination against the best in the world.
wrote 'no matter how highly Ray might regard you as a player he would not have you in his team, come hell or high water, unless he was utterly convinced that you could do the job he had allocated to you'. He encouraged 'difficult' players like Geoff Boycott and John Snow
who responded with their best Test form. 'Most of all, because he insisted on his "own side", he was able to get the best out of his players, both mentally and physically. He built up a tremendous team spirit which stood us in good stead on numerous occasions', and they tended to close ranks and treat the opposition, umpires, press and public as the enemy, an attitude that became prevalent amongst Test teams in the 1970s. In all he captained England in 31 Test match
es, winning 12, losing 5 and drawing 14.
Illingworth only captained England for five seasons (1969–1973) but this was a successful period in English Cricket. Under Illingworth, England beat the West Indies 2-0 in 1969, held a very powerful Rest of the World side to 3-1 in 1970, won the Ashes in Australia in 1970-71, beat Pakistan in 1971, somewhat surprisingly lost to India in 1971 but then regrouped and held on to the Ashes in a tight series in 1972 before eventually losing to a very powerful West Indies team in 1973.
Illingworth can perhaps be considered responsible for the victories in several of those tighter contests. For example at Headingley in 1969 the West Indies were 219 - 3 chasing 280 when Illingworth's inspired bowling change had Basil Butcher
caught behind and wickets fell with just about every bowling change he made that afternoon. Similarly at Sydney in the 7th Test of the 1970-71 series it was Illingworth, deprived of his star batsman Geoff Boycott and his star bowler John Snow. who somehow pressurised the Australian batsmen into surrender.
Those two matches will probably be remembered as Illingworth's finest moments as captain because they were the most famous. However it was for his brilliant tactics at Headingley in 1971 that he should receive most plaudits. With Pakistan needing only 231 to win - they were sailing toward victory with Sadiq Mohammed and Asif Iqbal
in full command at 160-4. Alan Knott
pulled off a miraculous stumping off Norman Gifford
(Asif the batsman) and again Illingworth's bowling changes just as they had two years earlier resulted in wickets - including the key wicket of Sadiq - c&b by Basil D'Oliveira
.
The 1972 series was as good and tough an Ashes series as there has been. The seasoned pros of England in Boycott, Edrich
, D'Oliveira, Illingworth himself, Underwood
and Snow faced the upcoming young Australians (Ian
and Greg Chappell
, Dennis Lillee
, Rod Marsh
, Doug Walters
) who would dominate for the middle part of the decade. The series was drawn 2-2 but included tight games at Headingley and particularly the Oval, where the match lasted almost six days with Australia chasing 242 with only 4 wickets in hand.
1973 was the end for Illingworth as captain of England and it was rather a sad one in that an easy victory over a budding New Zealand team was followed by a heavy defeat by a West Indies side just beginning to peak. England needed to win at Lord's to level the three-Test series. West Indies had first use of a quick but perfectly even batting wicket and made 650 at a rapid scoring rate as England's bowling attack of Wiilis
, Arnold
, Greig
, Underwood and Illingworth was humiliated by Kanhai
, Sobers and Bernard Julien
. When England batted they had no answer to Lance Gibbs
and lost by an innings after following on. Wisden fairly described it as "a sad end to the Illingworth era".
Few England captains since Illingworth have commanded the same respect and produced the same team spirit.
in 1968 it appeared that the Test career of the 36 year old off-spinner was over, but he transferred to Leicestershire
and was made captain. Although he had never been captain before his experience and knowledge of the game were widely believed to have helped Yorkshire to their County Championship
victories in 1966, 1967 and 1968. The selectors had long regarded Colin Cowdrey
as England's natural cricket captain, but he broke an Achilles tendon
early in the season and Illingworth was his surprise replacement after only a month as county captain. Illingworth had been in and out of the national side for years, but had taken 20 wickets (13.30) against India in 1967 and 13 more (22.39) against Australia in 1968. He was originally chosen over his rivals like Brian Close
as he was not a threat to Cowdrey's long-term captaincy due to his age and inability to establish a regular spot in the Test team. In the Second Test against the West Indies
at Lords England collapsed to 61-5, but the new skipper made a forceful 113 out of the last 155 runs and became a hero. He beat both the West Indies and New Zealand 2-0 and was confirmed as captain even when Cowdrey recovered.
, and none of their last 7. He continued this run to a record breaking 27 Test Matches without defeat in 1968-71, or one defeat in 40 Tests in 1966-71. This record was not recognised at the time as the games against the Rest of the World XI
were counted as Test matches
and was subsequently equalled by Clive Lloyd
's West Indies in 1981-84.
under Garry Sobers was created from the overseas cricketers playing in the County Championship
, including the South Africans Graeme Pollock
, Mike Procter
, Barry Richards
and Eddie Barlow
. They could not be regarded as a national Test team and the matches were given the status of 'unofficial Tests', but the runs scored and wickets taken were added to official Test statistics until it was decided by the I.C.C.
that they should not count. England were beaten by a superior team, but this was not unexpected. The only surprise was that they managed to win one game and almost won two others against what was arguably the strongest Test team ever assembled.
Illingworth led England to a 2-0 Ashes victory in 1970-71, the only time a touring team has played a full Test series in Australia without defeat. The successful Australian captain Greg Chappell
later wrote:
, Bernard Thomas of Warwickshire
the assistant manager and physiotherapist and G.C.A. Saulez the scorer. Clark had been the amateur captain of Kent
in 1949-51 who was described by Illingworth as "an amiable, but somewhat ineffectual man" and there were soon divisions between him and the players. After the Second Test Clark criticized both captains for cautious play, England for their short-pitched bowling and indicated that he would prefer to see Australia win 3-1 than see four more draws. Illingworth only discovered this when he was asked for a comment by a journalist in the morning and the rest of the team when they read the newspapers at the airport. As a result Illingworth effectively took over the running of the tour with the support of the players and Clark's influence declined. Unlike his predecessors Illingworth insisted on good hotel accommodation, decent sporting facilities, better travel arrangements, higher allowances and pay and fought hard to get them, which was greatly appreciated by the players. In the final Sydney Test Clark tried to push Illingworth back onto the field when he took the team off because of the crowd throwing beer cans after the Snow-Jenner incident. A furious Illingworth said he would not return until the playing area had been cleared and the crowd had calmed down and objected to Clark constantly siding with the Australians against his own team. When the team returned to England Illingworth said that "all hell would break loose" if anyone was denied his good conduct bonus (as with Fred Trueman
in the West Indies in 1953-54), but this did not happen.
's occasional left arm spin against the Indians on a sluggish pitch which had blunted Derek Underwood. He retained the Ashes at home in 1972 against Ian Chappell's powerful young side with an exciting 2-2 series draw. In 1972-73 he declined to India, Tony Lewis
leading the team instead, and when he took back the reins in 1973 he beat New Zealand 2-0, but lost 2-0 to the West Indies and Illingworth was dropped as England captain in the middle of The Oval
Test.
benefited from his return, winning four one day trophies and the County Championship
in 1975. After announcing his retirement from the first-class game in 1978 he returned to Headingley to manage the Yorkshire team, despite his testy relationship with Geoff Boycott. In 1982, faced with an under-performing team on the field, he made a return to the playing arena and replaced Chris Old
as captain. The side won the Sunday League in his final season in 1983 but failed in the championship, finishing bottom for the first time ever. The title of the book he wrote about this era was The Tempestuous Years.
He left Yorkshire in 1984 and carved out a successful career as a media pundit, often fiercely critical of the England Test team. Eventually he became the Chairman of England's Board of Test Selectors and the England Cricket Coach in 1997. He clashed with England captain Mike Atherton
over team selection.
, Phillip DeFreitas
and Steven Rhodes. Illingworth made it quite clear that he wanted balanced sides with an all-rounder batting at 6. The problem was that at the time - England were "between all rounders" as Ian Botham
had retired the previous season (though in truth had not been worthy of a place since around 1987) and it was several years before Andrew Flintoff
would replace Botham. As such, under Illingworth, players like Craig White
, Dominic Cork
and Ronnie Irani
were tried with only Cork achieving any success - though Cork's success was limited to the ball only.
For all of the sound common sense that Illingworth had demonstrated as a player and reinforced as a commentator, his abrasive man-management style was woefully out-of-date by 1994. Examples of this were his readiness to speak to the media to criticise his own players as he did twice with Mike Atherton: firstly during the dirt in the pockets scandal in 1994 and later the same year during the Melbourne Test match. Further evidence if any were required is Illingworth's public argument with Devon Malcolm
just after Malcolm had produced a rather wayward burst of bowling in the 5th test of the 1995-96 South African series which had seen a large 10th wicket stand take place which effectively cost England the match.
While Illingworth was undoubtedly a brilliant captain, a fine off spin bowler and a useful batsman at international level, his reappointment to international colours as administrator in the mid 1990s proved to be wholly unsuccessful.
He was awarded the CBE
for services to cricket in 1973 and made an honorary member of the MCC
. He was the fourth cricketer to be elected to Yorkshire's 'Hall of Fame'.
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in West Yorkshire, England. Once an independent town, it was incorporated into the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds in 1974, and is located midway between Bradford and Leeds city centres. It has a population of 32,391....
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
) is a former English
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so. He played for Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
(1951–68 and 1982–83), Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
(1969–78) and England (1958–73) and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1960.
As Player
He made his first-class debut at 19, was capped in 1955 and became a stalwart of the Yorkshire team in the sixties. He made his Test début as early as 1958 but struggled on his first tour, in the West Indies in 1959-60, taking just five wickets in five Test matches. After failing to make an impact in four Tests against South Africa he found himself struggling for a place. A good series against India in 1967 established him in the team. He joined Leicestershire in 1968 after a contract dispute with Yorkshire, Illingworth played 787 first-class matches over nearly 33 years and was a prolific wicket-taker in county cricket, taking 2072 scalps, he sent down 408 balls without reward in the three Tests against New Zealand in 1973 but conceded only 1.91 runs an over in his Test career. He was not a sharp spinner of the ball, relying on accuracy and subtle variations of flight, but his arm ball was particularly effective with many of his victims being caught at slip, playing for spin that was not there. His middle-order batting was based around stern defence; a fifth of his innings, mostly from number 6 or 7 in the order, finished not out. He scored 24,134 first-class runs in all, with a best of 162, at an average of 28.06. Against the Rest of the WorldRest of the World cricket team in England in 1970
A Rest of the World cricket team was assembled to play five-day cricket matches against the full England team in 1970 after the cancellation of the scheduled tour by the South African cricket team. At the time the matches were deemed to be Test matches, but that was later revoked.-The background to...
in 1970 Illingworth topped the England averages with 476 runs (52.89) and six half-centuries, a testament to his grit and determination against the best in the world.
As Captain
The Yorkshireman was 'tough, combative, grudging, shrewd, and an instinctive reader of the game', and an experienced, no-nonsense captain who expected his team to play like professionals. David GowerDavid Gower
David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...
wrote 'no matter how highly Ray might regard you as a player he would not have you in his team, come hell or high water, unless he was utterly convinced that you could do the job he had allocated to you'. He encouraged 'difficult' players like Geoff Boycott and John Snow
John Snow (cricketer)
John Augustine Snow played cricket for Sussex and England in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite being the son of a country vicar and publishing two volumes of poetry Snow was England's most formidable fast bowler between Fred Trueman and Bob Willis and played Test Matches with both of them at either end...
who responded with their best Test form. 'Most of all, because he insisted on his "own side", he was able to get the best out of his players, both mentally and physically. He built up a tremendous team spirit which stood us in good stead on numerous occasions', and they tended to close ranks and treat the opposition, umpires, press and public as the enemy, an attitude that became prevalent amongst Test teams in the 1970s. In all he captained England in 31 Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
es, winning 12, losing 5 and drawing 14.
Illingworth only captained England for five seasons (1969–1973) but this was a successful period in English Cricket. Under Illingworth, England beat the West Indies 2-0 in 1969, held a very powerful Rest of the World side to 3-1 in 1970, won the Ashes in Australia in 1970-71, beat Pakistan in 1971, somewhat surprisingly lost to India in 1971 but then regrouped and held on to the Ashes in a tight series in 1972 before eventually losing to a very powerful West Indies team in 1973.
Illingworth can perhaps be considered responsible for the victories in several of those tighter contests. For example at Headingley in 1969 the West Indies were 219 - 3 chasing 280 when Illingworth's inspired bowling change had Basil Butcher
Basil Butcher
Basil Fitzherbert Butcher is a former West Indian cricketer who played in 44 Tests from 1958 to 1969. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1970....
caught behind and wickets fell with just about every bowling change he made that afternoon. Similarly at Sydney in the 7th Test of the 1970-71 series it was Illingworth, deprived of his star batsman Geoff Boycott and his star bowler John Snow. who somehow pressurised the Australian batsmen into surrender.
Those two matches will probably be remembered as Illingworth's finest moments as captain because they were the most famous. However it was for his brilliant tactics at Headingley in 1971 that he should receive most plaudits. With Pakistan needing only 231 to win - they were sailing toward victory with Sadiq Mohammed and Asif Iqbal
Asif Iqbal
Asif Iqbal may refer to:*Asif Iqbal , Pakistani cricketer*Asif Iqbal , former Guantanamo Bay detainee*Asif Iqbal , arrested on suspicion of involvement in a terrorist bombing...
in full command at 160-4. Alan Knott
Alan Knott
Alan Philip Eric Knott is a former Kent County Cricket Club and English cricketer, as a wicket-keeper-batsman....
pulled off a miraculous stumping off Norman Gifford
Norman Gifford
Norman Gifford was an English cricketer, who played primarily as a left-arm spinner...
(Asif the batsman) and again Illingworth's bowling changes just as they had two years earlier resulted in wickets - including the key wicket of Sadiq - c&b by Basil D'Oliveira
Basil D'Oliveira
Basil Lewis D'Oliveira CBE , known affectionately around the world as "Dolly", was a South African-born English cricketer. D'Oliveira was classified as 'coloured' under the apartheid regime, and hence barred from first-class cricket, resulting in his emigration to England...
.
The 1972 series was as good and tough an Ashes series as there has been. The seasoned pros of England in Boycott, Edrich
John Edrich
John Edrich, MBE is a former English cricketer, who played for Surrey and England. He earned a reputation as a dogged and fearless batsman, and his figures show that he was amongst the best players of his generation...
, D'Oliveira, Illingworth himself, Underwood
Derek Underwood
Derek Underwood MBE is an English former international cricketer, and a former President of the MCC....
and Snow faced the upcoming young Australians (Ian
Ian Chappell
Ian Michael Chappell is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation...
and Greg Chappell
Greg Chappell
Gregory Stephen Chappell MBE is a former cricketer who captained Australia between 1975 and 1977 and then joined the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation, before returning to the Australian captaincy in 1979, a position he held until his retirement 1983...
, Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
, Rod Marsh
Rod Marsh
Rodney William Marsh MBE is a former Australian wicketkeeper.A colourful character, Marsh had a Test career spanning from the 1970–71 to the 1983–84 Australian season. In 96 Tests, he set a world record of 355 wicketkeeping dismissals, the same number his pace bowling Western...
, Doug Walters
Doug Walters
Kevin Douglas Walters MBE in Dungog New South Wales, known as Doug Walters, is a former Australian cricketer. He was known as an attacking batsman, and also as a typical ocker.-First-class career:...
) who would dominate for the middle part of the decade. The series was drawn 2-2 but included tight games at Headingley and particularly the Oval, where the match lasted almost six days with Australia chasing 242 with only 4 wickets in hand.
1973 was the end for Illingworth as captain of England and it was rather a sad one in that an easy victory over a budding New Zealand team was followed by a heavy defeat by a West Indies side just beginning to peak. England needed to win at Lord's to level the three-Test series. West Indies had first use of a quick but perfectly even batting wicket and made 650 at a rapid scoring rate as England's bowling attack of Wiilis
Bob Willis
Robert George Dylan Willis MBE , known as Bob Willis, is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey, Warwickshire, Northern Transvaal and England...
, Arnold
Geoff Arnold
Geoff Arnold is an English cricketer who played 34 Tests and 14 One Day Internationals for England. His nickname of "Horse" was based on his initials of GG. He was a seam and swing bowler, who finished his first-class cricket career, which lasted from 1963 to 1982, with 1130 wickets at an average...
, Greig
Tony Greig
Anthony "Tony" William Greig is a former English Test cricketer and currently a commentator.Born in Queenstown, South Africa, Greig qualified to play for England by virtue of his Scottish father. He was a tall batting all-rounder who bowled both medium pace and off spin. He became captain of the...
, Underwood and Illingworth was humiliated by Kanhai
Rohan Kanhai
Rohan Bholalall Kanhai is a former West Indian Cricket player of Indo-Guyanese descent. He is widely considered as one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai featured in several great West Indian teams, playing with, among others, Sir Garfield Sobers, Roy Fredericks, Lance Gibbs, and Alvin...
, Sobers and Bernard Julien
Bernard Julien
Bernard Denis Julien played 24 Tests and 12 One Day Internationals for the West Indies.He played in England for Kent and joined Packers World Series in 1977. He scored a century at Lords vs England in the 1973 test....
. When England batted they had no answer to Lance Gibbs
Lance Gibbs
Lancelot Richard Gibbs is a former West Indies cricketer, one of the most successful spin bowlers in Test cricket history. He took 309 Test wickets, only the second player to pass 300, the first spinner to pass that milestone, and had an exceptional economy rate of under two runs per over...
and lost by an innings after following on. Wisden fairly described it as "a sad end to the Illingworth era".
Few England captains since Illingworth have commanded the same respect and produced the same team spirit.
Leicestershire and England
When Ray Illingworth left YorkshireYorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
in 1968 it appeared that the Test career of the 36 year old off-spinner was over, but he transferred to Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
and was made captain. Although he had never been captain before his experience and knowledge of the game were widely believed to have helped Yorkshire to their County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
victories in 1966, 1967 and 1968. The selectors had long regarded Colin Cowdrey
Colin Cowdrey
Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, CBE , better known as Colin Cowdrey, was the Captain of Oxford University, Kent County Cricket Club and the England cricket team in a career that lasted from 1950 to 1976...
as England's natural cricket captain, but he broke an Achilles tendon
Achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon , also known as the calcaneal tendon or the tendo calcaneus, is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone.- Anatomy :The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 3 muscles in the lower leg:...
early in the season and Illingworth was his surprise replacement after only a month as county captain. Illingworth had been in and out of the national side for years, but had taken 20 wickets (13.30) against India in 1967 and 13 more (22.39) against Australia in 1968. He was originally chosen over his rivals like Brian Close
Brian Close
Dennis Brian Close , usually known as Brian Close, is a former cricketer who is the youngest man ever to play Test cricket for England. He was picked for the Test team to play against New Zealand, in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England,...
as he was not a threat to Cowdrey's long-term captaincy due to his age and inability to establish a regular spot in the Test team. In the Second Test against the West Indies
West Indian cricket team in England in 1969
The West Indies cricket team toured England in the 1969 season to play a three-match Test series against England. England won the series 2-0 with one match drawn....
at Lords England collapsed to 61-5, but the new skipper made a forceful 113 out of the last 155 runs and became a hero. He beat both the West Indies and New Zealand 2-0 and was confirmed as captain even when Cowdrey recovered.
England's Unbeaten Run
When Illingworth became captain England had lost only one of their previous 14 Test matchesTest cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
, and none of their last 7. He continued this run to a record breaking 27 Test Matches without defeat in 1968-71, or one defeat in 40 Tests in 1966-71. This record was not recognised at the time as the games against the Rest of the World XI
Rest of the World cricket team in England in 1970
A Rest of the World cricket team was assembled to play five-day cricket matches against the full England team in 1970 after the cancellation of the scheduled tour by the South African cricket team. At the time the matches were deemed to be Test matches, but that was later revoked.-The background to...
were counted as Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
and was subsequently equalled by Clive Lloyd
Clive Lloyd
Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE AO is a former West Indies cricketer. He captained the West Indies between 1974 and 1985 and oversaw their rise to become the dominant Test-playing nation, a position that was only relinquished in the latter half of the 1990s...
's West Indies in 1981-84.
- 1-1 (5 Tests) vs Australia in 1968Australian cricket team in England in 1968The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1968 season to play a five-match Test series against England for The Ashes.Australia retained The Ashes after the series was drawn 1-1.-Test series summary:* at Old Trafford – Australia won by 159 runs...
, Australia winning the First Test at Old Trafford by 159 runs. - 0-0 (3 Tests) in Pakistan 1968-69.
- 2-0 (3 Tests) vs the West Indies 1969West Indian cricket team in England in 1969The West Indies cricket team toured England in the 1969 season to play a three-match Test series against England. England won the series 2-0 with one match drawn....
. - 2-0 (3 Tests) vs New Zealand 1969New Zealand cricket team in England in 1969The New Zealand cricket team toured England in the 1969 season to play a three-match Test series against England. The New Zealanders played in the second half of the English season: the England cricket team played three Test matches against the West Indies cricket team in the earlier part of the...
. - 2-0 (7 Tests) in Australia 1970-71.
- 1-0 (2 Tests) in New Zealand 1970-71History of cricket in New Zealand from 1970-71 to 2000This article describes the history of New Zealand cricket from the 1970-71 season until 2000.New Zealand's outstanding player in this period was the great fast bowler and all-rounder Richard Hadlee.-Domestic cricket:...
. - 1-0 (3 Tests) vs Pakistan 1971Pakistani cricket team in England in 1971The Pakistan cricket team toured England in the 1971 season to play a three-match Test series against England.England won the series 1-0 with 2 matches drawn.-Test series summary:* — match drawn* — match drawn...
. - 0-1 (3 Tests) vs India 1971Indian cricket team in England in 1971The Indian cricket team toured England in the 1971 season and played 19 first-class fixtures, winning 7, losing only one and drawing 11.India played three Test matches and surprisingly won the series against England 1–0 with two Tests drawn. This was India's first ever series win in England. The...
, India winning the Third Test at the Oval by 4 wickets.
The Rest of the World
There was no tour in 1969-70 an no toruists in 1970 as the series with South Africa was cancelled due to the Basil d'Oliveira Affair and concerns over anti-apartheid demonstrations that had led to barbed wire at Lords. Rather than send an unprepared team to Australia the Rest of the World XIRest of the World cricket team in England in 1970
A Rest of the World cricket team was assembled to play five-day cricket matches against the full England team in 1970 after the cancellation of the scheduled tour by the South African cricket team. At the time the matches were deemed to be Test matches, but that was later revoked.-The background to...
under Garry Sobers was created from the overseas cricketers playing in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
, including the South Africans Graeme Pollock
Graeme Pollock
Robert Graeme Pollock, known as Graeme, is a former cricketer. He played in 23 Test matches for South Africa and represented Transvaal and Eastern Province at domestic level....
, Mike Procter
Mike Procter
Michael John Procter is a former South African cricketer. A fast bowler and hard hitting batsman, his chances for a long and productive test career were wrecked by South Africa's banishment from world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s...
, Barry Richards
Barry Richards
Barry Anderson Richards is a former South African batsman. A right-handed "talent of such enormous stature", Richards is considered one of South Africa's most successful cricketers. He was able to play only four Test matches - all against Australia - before South Africa's exclusion from the...
and Eddie Barlow
Eddie Barlow
Edgar John Barlow was a South African cricketer . Barlow played first-class cricket for Transvaal and Eastern Province from 1959-60 to 1967-68 before moving to Western Province for the seasons from 1968-69 to 1980-81...
. They could not be regarded as a national Test team and the matches were given the status of 'unofficial Tests', but the runs scored and wickets taken were added to official Test statistics until it was decided by the I.C.C.
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
that they should not count. England were beaten by a superior team, but this was not unexpected. The only surprise was that they managed to win one game and almost won two others against what was arguably the strongest Test team ever assembled.
Australia
(See Main Article English cricket team in Australia in 1970–71)Illingworth led England to a 2-0 Ashes victory in 1970-71, the only time a touring team has played a full Test series in Australia without defeat. The successful Australian captain Greg Chappell
Greg Chappell
Gregory Stephen Chappell MBE is a former cricketer who captained Australia between 1975 and 1977 and then joined the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation, before returning to the Australian captaincy in 1979, a position he held until his retirement 1983...
later wrote:
Ray Illingworth's England side in 1970-71 were mentally the toughest English side I played against, and the experience of playing against them first up in my Test career reinforced what I had learnt in the backyard. Test cricket was not for the faint of heart. Illingworth subjected us to a mental intimidation by aggressive field placings, and physical intimidation by constant use of his pace attack, ably led by one of the best fast bowlers of my experience, John SnowJohn Snow (cricketer)John Augustine Snow played cricket for Sussex and England in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite being the son of a country vicar and publishing two volumes of poetry Snow was England's most formidable fast bowler between Fred Trueman and Bob Willis and played Test Matches with both of them at either end...
. Winning to Illingworth was something he expected of himself and demanded of his team.
Trouble with the M.C.C.
The M.C.C. tour manager was D.G ClarkDavid Clark (cricketer)
David Graham Clark is a former English cricketer and cricket administrator.Clark was born in Barming, Kent. He played first-class cricket for five years, appearing for Kent. He was Kent's captain for the last three years of his career. He retired at the end of the 1951 season...
, Bernard Thomas of Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
the assistant manager and physiotherapist and G.C.A. Saulez the scorer. Clark had been the amateur captain of Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
in 1949-51 who was described by Illingworth as "an amiable, but somewhat ineffectual man" and there were soon divisions between him and the players. After the Second Test Clark criticized both captains for cautious play, England for their short-pitched bowling and indicated that he would prefer to see Australia win 3-1 than see four more draws. Illingworth only discovered this when he was asked for a comment by a journalist in the morning and the rest of the team when they read the newspapers at the airport. As a result Illingworth effectively took over the running of the tour with the support of the players and Clark's influence declined. Unlike his predecessors Illingworth insisted on good hotel accommodation, decent sporting facilities, better travel arrangements, higher allowances and pay and fought hard to get them, which was greatly appreciated by the players. In the final Sydney Test Clark tried to push Illingworth back onto the field when he took the team off because of the crowd throwing beer cans after the Snow-Jenner incident. A furious Illingworth said he would not return until the playing area had been cleared and the crowd had calmed down and objected to Clark constantly siding with the Australians against his own team. When the team returned to England Illingworth said that "all hell would break loose" if anyone was denied his good conduct bonus (as with Fred Trueman
Fred Trueman
Frederick Sewards Trueman OBE was an English cricketer, generally acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers in history. A bowler of genuinely fast pace who was widely known as Fiery Fred, Trueman played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1949 until he retired in 1968...
in the West Indies in 1953-54), but this did not happen.
Later Captaincy
Series wins over New Zealand and Pakistan followed and a despite a loss against India in 1971 he scored his second Test century and enjoyed bowling success. He revealed, in an interview with Shyam Bhatia, 30 years after the loss, that he regretted not bowling Brian LuckhurstBrian Luckhurst
Brian William Luckhurst was an English cricketer, who played his entire county career for Kent County Cricket Club. He played for Kent from 1958 to 1976, usually opening the batting, then in 1985, in an emergency, played in one more match against the Australians. He was cricket manager from 1981...
's occasional left arm spin against the Indians on a sluggish pitch which had blunted Derek Underwood. He retained the Ashes at home in 1972 against Ian Chappell's powerful young side with an exciting 2-2 series draw. In 1972-73 he declined to India, Tony Lewis
Tony Lewis
Anthony Robert Lewis CBE is a former Welsh cricketer, who went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage in the 1990s, and become president of the MCC. Lewis attended Christ's College, Cambridge and played for Cambridge University. He also played county cricket for Glamorgan, and...
leading the team instead, and when he took back the reins in 1973 he beat New Zealand 2-0, but lost 2-0 to the West Indies and Illingworth was dropped as England captain in the middle of The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
Test.
Return to the fray
LeicestershireLeicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
benefited from his return, winning four one day trophies and the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
in 1975. After announcing his retirement from the first-class game in 1978 he returned to Headingley to manage the Yorkshire team, despite his testy relationship with Geoff Boycott. In 1982, faced with an under-performing team on the field, he made a return to the playing arena and replaced Chris Old
Chris Old
Chris Old is an English former cricketer, who played in forty six Tests and thirty two ODIs from 1972 to 1981....
as captain. The side won the Sunday League in his final season in 1983 but failed in the championship, finishing bottom for the first time ever. The title of the book he wrote about this era was The Tempestuous Years.
He left Yorkshire in 1984 and carved out a successful career as a media pundit, often fiercely critical of the England Test team. Eventually he became the Chairman of England's Board of Test Selectors and the England Cricket Coach in 1997. He clashed with England captain Mike Atherton
Mike Atherton
Michael Andrew Atherton OBE is a broadcaster, journalist and retired England international cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England,and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the captaincy of England at the age of 25 and led the side in a record 54 Test matches...
over team selection.
Time as England Supremo - One Man Committee
As would be expected from all the evidence cited above about his time as a player and captain, Illingworth was a shrewd and deep thinker about the game of Cricket. His commentary on the poor England test side of the late 1980s was worth listening to even if it just highlighted where England were going wrong. Having seen England thrashed 4-1 at home in the 1993 Ashes and beaten badly by West Indies in 1993-94, Illingworth was appointed "supremo" of English Cricket in 1994 and spoke of making changes. The progress made by the young inexperienced side Atherton had taken to the Caribbean in 1993-94 was discarded and some old faces reappeared in the summer of 1994 such as Graham GoochGraham Gooch
Graham Alan Gooch OBE DL is a former cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs...
, Phillip DeFreitas
Phillip DeFreitas
Phillip Anthony Jason "Daffy" DeFreitas is a retired English cricketer. He played county cricket for Leicestershire, Lancashire and Derbyshire, as well as appearing in forty four Test matches and 103 ODIs...
and Steven Rhodes. Illingworth made it quite clear that he wanted balanced sides with an all-rounder batting at 6. The problem was that at the time - England were "between all rounders" as Ian Botham
Ian Botham
Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy"...
had retired the previous season (though in truth had not been worthy of a place since around 1987) and it was several years before Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
would replace Botham. As such, under Illingworth, players like Craig White
Craig White
Craig White is an English former first-class cricketer, and latterly cricket coach.-Life and career:...
, Dominic Cork
Dominic Cork
Dominic Gerald Cork is a former English cricketer. Cork is a right-handed lower-order batsman who bowls right-arm fast-medium, and is renowned for his swing and seam control. Making his début in first-class cricket for Derbyshire in 1990, he was selected to play for England in 1992, aged 21. He...
and Ronnie Irani
Ronnie Irani
Ronald Charles "Ronnie" Irani is a former England cricketer who spent most of his career at Essex County Cricket Club, latterly as captain. He is of Irani descent, the Iranis being a community of Persian Zoroastrians who immigrated to India during the British Raj...
were tried with only Cork achieving any success - though Cork's success was limited to the ball only.
For all of the sound common sense that Illingworth had demonstrated as a player and reinforced as a commentator, his abrasive man-management style was woefully out-of-date by 1994. Examples of this were his readiness to speak to the media to criticise his own players as he did twice with Mike Atherton: firstly during the dirt in the pockets scandal in 1994 and later the same year during the Melbourne Test match. Further evidence if any were required is Illingworth's public argument with Devon Malcolm
Devon Malcolm
Devon Malcolm is a former English cricketer.Malcolm was one of England's few genuinely fast bowlers of the 1990s. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he settled in England, making his first-class debut for Derbyshire in 1984, and qualifying to play for England in 1987...
just after Malcolm had produced a rather wayward burst of bowling in the 5th test of the 1995-96 South African series which had seen a large 10th wicket stand take place which effectively cost England the match.
While Illingworth was undoubtedly a brilliant captain, a fine off spin bowler and a useful batsman at international level, his reappointment to international colours as administrator in the mid 1990s proved to be wholly unsuccessful.
He was awarded the CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for services to cricket in 1973 and made an honorary member of the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
. He was the fourth cricketer to be elected to Yorkshire's 'Hall of Fame'.
External links
- Player Profile: Ray Illingworth at Cricket Archive