Illy gave leadership a good name

I spotted Ray Illingworth Illy to those who knew him in a tea lounge at Leeds during the England v Sri Lanka NatWest Series game on July 2 2002 He was chatting with his old Yorkshire mates as rain forced the tie to be reduced to a 32overs affair I could have stayed on in the hope of interviewing the former England captain who passed away on Saturday but he appeared too imposing to approachSadly now the opportunity is lost forever On Christmas Day Illingworth joined a long list of cricketers to succumb to cancer when his lifersquos innings ended at 89He was Ajit Wadekarrsquos rival captain for Indiarsquos historic 1971 series in England where the tourists beat their hosts for the first time on their soil Not only was Indiarsquos win over England more creditable because they beat a team that had won the Ashes on Australian soil earlier in the year but also since Wadekar had outwitted a shrewd captain like Illingworth This came after Indiarsquos series victory over Garry Sobersrsquos West Indians in the Caribbean Wadekar rated Illingworthrsquos captaincy skills highly despite the 10 triumph In the book My Cricketing Years he wrote ldquoGary Sobers or Ray Illingworth There should be no doubt as to who is the greater cricketer Sobers has universally been acclaimed as one of the alltime greats of the game But when it comes to a question of captaincy or leadership I would place Illingworth well ahead of Sobers If you have any doubts on this score ask those who have opposed him on the county circuitrdquoIan Chappell who like Wadekar was Illingworthrsquos opposite number in 1971 after taking over from Bill Lawry and in the 1972 Ashes spoke glowingly of the Yorkshiremanrsquos captaincy Chappell admired Illingworthrsquos quality of playing for a win from Ball One He was also a playerrsquos captain He didnrsquot shy away from telling umpire Lou Rowan what he thought about his warning to John Snow after Australian tailender Terry Jenner was hit on the head in the seventh Test at SydneyA crowd disturbance followed and Illingworth walked off and took his team with him to the dressing room He only agreed to return if the safety of his players was guaranteed Their safety meant more to him than losing the game through a forfeitureHe should have captained the MCC side to India in 197273 instead of rookie Tony Lewis but he dropped out citing fatigue He was slammed in some quarters for missing the winter tours of India and Pakistan that season but he said in Yorkshire and Back that although he would have enjoyed bowling on Indian pitches the thought of playing eight Tests in all at the age of 40 ldquowas not particularly invitingrdquo Missing out on seeing his two daughters growing up was a factor too but there were other reasons which Illingworth revealed in the book ldquoTo be perfectly frank in considering as well that my stomach has never been terribly enthusiastic about infusions of Oriental spices I reflected that I could make twice as much money in my winter job at home as I would get for slogging through Nagpur and Kanpur Hyderabad Pakistan to Hyderabad IndiardquoApart from his astute captaincy Illingworth was more than just a useful offspinner Bishan Singh Bedi rated him highly and the Indians of 1971 will remember his hundred in the Old Trafford Test after he was given not out by umpire Tom Spencermdashcaught by Eknath Solkar at short leg off BS Chandrasekharmdashwhen he had just one run to his nameIllingworth influenced the county circuit even after he played the last of his 61 Tests for England in 1973He was batting stylist David Gowerrsquos first captain at Leicestershire for whom he debuted in 1975 In Heroes and Contemporaries Gower wrote ldquoMy early career was dominated by Ray Illingworth and none of the lessons I ever learned from him has been forgotten He was my mentor in the same way that Brian Close was for Ian Botham I shall always remember that and when I captain a side now I always think that if I can do the job with half of Raymondrsquos ability and success then I will not be doing badlyrdquoIllingworthrsquos tenure as Englandrsquos chief selector in the 1990s was a controversial one Skipper Mike Atherton didnrsquot always see eye to eye he fined him 2000 pounds for the dirtinthepocket incident at Lordrsquos in 1994 while players like Devon Malcolm and Phil Tufnell felt targeted by Illingworth who had the final word on selection Malcolm revealed in his 1998 autobiography that he was ldquoat the right height to land a punch on him Illingworth but instead kept my arms folded tightly across my chestrdquo when Illingworth told him that he had cost England the Cape Town Test against South Africa in 1996Illingworth may not have been the easiest man to get along with but at least he didnrsquot view the media as a perpetual nuisance While in Australia as chairman of selectors for the 199495 Ashes he disagreed with manager Mike Smithrsquos blanket ban on players talking to the press Illingworth felt particularly sorry for Darren Gough who despite claiming six wickets in Australiarsquos first innings at Sydney wasnrsquot allowed to be interviewedLate sports writer Martin Johnson wrote about how as Leicestershire captain Illingworth would welcome him in the dressing room but warned of a ldquobollockingrdquo if he got it wrong on matters he had not consulted Illingworth onIn hindsight I ought not to have developed cold feet on that chilly windy July day in 2002middayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper