At present the international set up is inundated with tournaments of all sorts and the old fashioned cricket lover is more bemused than amused. One wonders whether the old world charm of Test cricket will survive amongst all the “din” that we watch on TV,in my opinion Twenty10 is the latest germ that has entered the system and profits prevail at the expense of class.
It’s refreshing to read classics of cricket.
JOHN ARLOTTS’S BOOK OF CRICKETERS stated that Raymond Illingworth was, above all, a thinking cricketer. Some have said that ‘things worked out for him’; and, in terms of opportunity, he was in the right place at the right time. He himself however worked out many things for himself, and it might well be argued that no English captain ever achieved better results in terms of relative playing strengths.
Illingworth was a seam bowler who had the perception to switch to off spin, being a utilitarian player he was able to fit in where needed, took hundred wickets in ten seasons; scored thousand runs in eight; performed the double in six.
In his forties he was not only fit enough to chase a ball hard, but able to make acrobatic catches. He did not rate himself highly as a batsman, but he scored more runs under pressure than men with higher reputations. Later he struggled with a painful shoulder injury, still he retained his accuracy and exploited the turning pitch and, on the plumb one, set sufficient problems of length flight – above all the late out floater- to check and beat good batsmen.(the Asian off spin bowlers nightmare the doosra was never heard of then)
At the time he may not have been great in any of these departments but he must be accepted as England’s best all rounder since Trevor Bailey. Yet history will primarily remember him as a captain.His reading of a match and tactical acumen were appreciated while he was with Yorkshire, Brian Close too esteemed his advice. That was fair recommendation as a cricket brain.
Ironically, Illingworth’s biggest upset of his career put him in a position to captain England. In 1968 with characteristic independence, though by no means out of harmony with other employees at the time.
RAW DEAL
He asked Yorkshire for a long term contract and, when they refused, he asked to be released. The county granted his request but in an unworthy petty gesture, withheld the life insurance policy others had been allowed to take with them when they left. So he joined Leicestershire for the 1969 season, and was appointed county captain.At that point Ray Illingworth was rising thirty-seven; his Test career seemed over. He had never been an England regular (thirty Tests and only one tour in ten years).After an indifferent series against Australia in 1961-2 he was not chosen for the subsequent tour of Pakistan; and only eleven Tests in subsequent sixteen series up to Spring 1969. Pat Pocock was sixteen years younger. Illingworth had played with Leicestershire for only three weeks when Colin Cowdery, who had taken the subsequent 1967-68 side to West Indies and drawn the 1968 home series with Australia, was injured so severely as to be ruled out of consideration for the 1969 Tests against West Indies. Here was much shuffling of ideas and names before Illingworth- on paper the least experienced captain in the country was given charge of England.
He inherited a seriously depleted team by comparison with that of even a year earlier. Barrington,Dexter, Milburn, Cowdrey and Prideaux were all for various reasons, unavailable. England had little chance against the Windies captained by Sobers. Yet they won that series and the following three Test rubbers with New Zealand. Illingworth shored up his batting with an average of 40.75 ( second only to Boycott) he was also second in the bowling with ten wickets at 15.40.
VICTIM OF HOSTILITY
There was no dropping him after that. He was the victim of the same hostility from the same people as had thought Len Hutton ‘not officer class’ but on the surface at least, but he let that worry him less than it did his predecessor.
In four years until 1973 he took England through nine Tests rubbers of which only two were lost; first to India by a single match. In that four year period, England won twelve matches, lost five drew fourteen.
They won the Ashes after twelve years by beating Australia in Australia, and retained them in England. Even in Isolation that was an outstanding sustained performance.
It was said that Illingworth “peppered over the cracks” but far more than wallpaper needed to hold together the crumbling façade of that team.
Illingworths achievement was that he picked the best team for the job, not necessarily in terms of technical ability – though he was quick to appreciate that- but also for temperament and sheer application.
He deployed that team in such balance that it achieved maximum efficiency: and through his own professionalism and the trust he placed in them, he commanded from his players a degree of respect, loyalty and effort which often lifted their performance to a peak higher than their apparent sum of their talents. In that respect he resembled Sir Alf Ramsey, another introverted and pragmatic thinker.
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