Raymond Illingworth, cricketer who won county titles with Yorkshire and Leicestershire and led England to two Ashes series victories – obituary

Raymond Illingworth, who has died aged 89, made his name in cricket as a Yorkshire all-rounder; he did not reach the zenith of his career, however, until he moved to Leicestershire at 36 and unexpectedly emerged as captain of England.

In 1970-71 he regained the Ashes in Australia, a feat achieved by only three other England captains in the entire 20th century. The triumph was testimony to his innate Yorkshire shrewdness and toughness, which neither asked for, nor gave, any quarter, and made the very best of his resources.

In particular, Illingworth won the trust and confidence of John Snow, transforming the mercurial fast bowler into a model of endeavour who took 31 wickets in the series. In support of Snow, Illingworth argued with the umpires that a ball could not be described as a bouncer merely because it threatened the batsman.

When, in the decisive final Test at Sydney, an Australian batsman was hit on his (helmetless) head, and the crowd began to throw bottles and cans, Illingworth simply led his team off the field until order was restored.

It only increased his determination that the Australian crowds took to booing him as he walked out to bat. In 10 innings that series he failed only once, finishing with 253 runs at an average of 31, while his miserly off-spin bowling prevented the Australian batting from cutting loose.

This was especially true in the last Test when, with Snow out of action, Australia needed only 223 to win the match and square the series. They reached 71 for the loss of only two wickets before Illingworth pressured them into submission, taking three key wickets for 39 runs in 20 overs. England won by 62 runs and carried off the intense six-match series 2-0.

The captain had not taken kindly, earlier in the tour, to a suggestion by David Clark, the England manager, that it would be better for England to lose the Ashes than for every Test to end in a draw. Nor did Illingworth value the gentlemanly mumblings of his vice-captain, Colin Cowdrey.

On the other hand, he enjoyed excellent relations with the Australian press, one journalist hailing him as “the most frank and straightforward captain ever to tour Australia”.

Raymond Illingworth was born on June 8 1932 at Pudsey, West Yorkshire, where Herbert Sutcliffe and Len Hutton had first seen the light of day. In 1935 the family moved to nearby Farsley, equidistant between Leeds and Bradford, arguably the two most fanatical cricketing towns in the world.

His mother described Raymond (never Ray in his family) as “a comical little chap, quiet but shy, who would have hid if you stopped to talk to someone”. At Frances Street School, however, the boy soon showed an exceptional talent for games, and even refused the possibility of grammar school lest homework might mean time away from sport.

In the summer of 1946, when the 14-year-old Raymond left Wesley Street Elementary School, he averaged over 100 with the bat and had taken plenty of wickets at only two runs apiece.

He began to work with his father, a cabinet maker whose experiences in the Depression had left Raymond with the keenest sense of the value of money. Opportunity knocked when the boy’s performances for Farsley – at first in the Junior, then at 15 in the full Bradford League – brought him to the notice of Yorkshire. Coaching at Headingley by the redoubtable Arthur Mitchell reinforced his innate conviction that the game should never be approached frivolously.

“I have never played cricket for fun,” Illingworth wrote, “but I have always played it for pleasure.” Certainly, he would always bitterly resent every run scored off him.

Originally he had bowled at medium pace; while still a teenager, however, he switched to spin, developing his characteristic soft-shoe shuffle to the wicket before delivering the ball with a low arm, albeit from a classic sideways-on position.

As a relic of his early days as a medium-pacer Illingworth retained a natural tendency towards outswing. Unlike many off-spinners, he preferred bowling with the wind, and obtained many wickets with deliveries that went straight on or left the batsman. His batting, by contrast, developed on more buccaneering principles.

Resolute in defence when the situation demanded, he could also punch the ball aggressively through the covers or over the bowler’s head. In addition, he hooked well, even against the fastest bowlers. Though never a stylist, he could be highly effective.

The young Illingworth was also a talented footballer, whose skills at wing-half earned him the possibility of trials with Aston Villa, Huddersfield Town and Bradford City. But in those days cricket was better paid.

In October 1950 Illingworth began his National Service in the RAF. His commanding officer was a cricket fanatic who posted him back to Yorkshire; the young recruit, however, contracted pneumonia, and only narrowly escaped an operation which would have destroyed his rib cage.

Together with his future rival Fred Titmus, in 1951 Illingworth represented the RAF against both the Navy and the Army at Lord’s, on the latter occasion batting at No 3 and collecting the only pair (a duck in both innings) of his career.

A century for Yorkshire Seconds augured better, and in August he made his debut for the full county team against Hampshire at Headingley. Going in after Vic Cannings had run through the early order, Illingworth helped to save the situation with a fine 56 in a stand with Norman Yardley.

Fred Trueman believed that if Illingworth had played for any other county than Yorkshire he would have batted at No 3 and regularly amassed 2,000 runs a season. As things were, his progress was slower.

In 1952 Illingworth gained further experience with the Combined Services under Alan Shirreff, and next year emerged as a regular member of the Yorkshire side. Yet the poisonous atmosphere prevailing in the Yorkshire dressing-room during the 1950s meant that this was far from being an entirely happy experience.

Illingworth would remember how, having been asked to bowl by Yardley, he would arrive at the crease only to discover Johnny Wardle or Bob Appleyard still in possession. “Bugger off,” they would tell him, “I’m bowling here.”

It was a hard school, and Illingworth developed a gloomy, almost Calvinist belief that, whoever else might be the recipient of good fortune, it certainly would not be him. “When do you bowl?” someone asked him. “When the bloody ball isn’t turning,” he replied. Equally, when his batting partner was scoring freely, Illingworth would complain: “He’s getting all the bad balls they don’t bowl at me.”

Nevertheless, Illingworth made steady progress, winning his county cap in 1955 and two years later doing the double (1,000 runs and 100 wickets) for the first of six times. In 1958 he made his debut for England against New Zealand at Old Trafford.

Yet Yorkshire, for all the individual prowess available, failed to win a County Championship in the 1950s until the atmosphere improved with the appointment of Ronnie Burnett as captain in 1959. Illingworth in particular admired Burnett, and enjoyed his best season with the bat that year, scoring 1,726 runs and taking 110 wickets.

In the 1960s Yorkshire won the title six times, and before 1969 never finished lower than fifth. Illingworth enjoyed a succession of golden years, doing the double four times between 1960 and 1964.

Yet he never appreciated the dictatorial ways of Brian Sellars, the Yorkshire chairman, who was very much of the old school. Matters came to a head in 1968, when the committee refused Illingworth’s demand for a new three-year contract. He threatened resignation; Sellars told him to “b----r off”.

The reject was quickly snapped up to captain Leicestershire. Then in May 1969 Colin Cowdrey, the England captain, snapped an Achilles tendon and Illingworth was appointed in his place.

Up to this point, Illingworth’s performances for England had been unremarkable. He had played 30 Test matches (including five in the West Indies in 1960, and five in Australia and New Zealand in 1962) and averaged only 16 with the bat. Just two of his bowling analyses stood out: six for 29 against India in 1967, and six for 87 against Australia at Headingley in 1968.

With rival off-spinners such as David Allen, Fred Titmus, John Mortimore and Pat Pocock available, Illingworth owed much to the appointment in 1966 of his Yorkshire colleague Brian Close as England captain.

Now, in the two home series of 1969, Illingworth not only proved himself as captain, beating first the West Indies and then New Zealand. He also suddenly blossomed as a Test batsman with his 113 against the West Indies at Lord’s.

In 1970, after South Africa’s tour of England had been cancelled, a series was hastily arranged against a powerful Rest of the World side. It was no disgrace that England were beaten 1-4.

Illingworth again captained astutely, besides scoring 476 runs at an average of 52.89 – against such bowlers as Graham McKenzie, Mike Proctor, Garry Sobers and Lance Gibbs. The selectors therefore preferred him to Cowdrey as captain of the tour to Australia in 1970-71.

Returning triumphantly with the Ashes, Illingworth led England to victory over Pakistan in 1971 and then made a century against India at Old Trafford. But the loss of the Oval Test against India – and with it the three-match series – represented his first grave setback as England’s captain.

Moreover, he was involved in controversy at Lord’s when he refused to support the demand of Billy Griffith, secretary of MCC, that John Snow should apologise after barging into the great Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar.

Nevertheless Illingworth remained skipper in 1972, when England retained the Ashes in a tied series against Australia. Having refused to tour India and Pakistan in 1972-73, he returned as captain for the two home series in 1973. New Zealand were beaten 2-0, but that margin was reversed later in the summer against the West Indies. It proved to be the end of Illingworth’s Test career.

Meanwhile, Leicestershire had been making steady progress under his leadership. They won the Benson & Hedges Cup in 1972 and the John Player League in 1974. Then in 1975 they carried off both the County Championship and the B & H Cup, thus becoming the first county to win trophies for both three-day and one-day cricket in the same summer.

Illingworth retired from Leicestershire in 1978 and next year returned to Yorkshire as manager – an unhappy move as it turned out, as he was immediately swept up into the controversies surrounding Geoffrey Boycott, who was replaced as captain in September 1978 but continued to exercise a divisive influence as a player.

In an atmosphere suppurating with recrimination and bitterness, Illingworth, largely supported by the players, did his best to hold the line against Boycott, even dropping him from the side in 1981 as a disciplinary measure.

Halfway through the 1982 season Illingworth, now aged 50, took over the captaincy of Yorkshire on the field. He remained skipper in 1983 when Yorkshire suffered the worst humiliation in their history, finishing bottom in the Championship. It was only slight compensation that they won the John Player League that year, a success in which Illingworth’s niggardly bowling played an important part.

That winter the committee decided not to renew Boycott’s contract, only to find themselves thrown out by his supporters. This meant the end for Illingworth at Yorkshire, both as manager and captain.

From 1963 Illingworth had worked in the winters for Shaun Wilson, a company which manufactured fireworks and cards. Now he settled into a career as wireless and television commentator. In 1986 he was offered the job of England’s coach, which he refused because he was offered only partial control.

When England appointed him as chairman of selectors in 1994 he insisted upon, and obtained, full and exclusive powers. His blunt ways with the players did not find favour, though he stood loyally by Michael Atherton when the England captain was attacked for stuffing his pockets with dust in order to dry the ball.

Matters came to a head when Illingworth, apoplectic with fury, rounded on Devon Malcolm after England had lost the decisive fifth Test in Cape Town in January 1996: “You bowled crap and you’ve cost us the match.” After the tour this feud spilled over into the newspaper columns, with Malcolm making accusations of racism.

In June 1996, Illingworth was fined £2,000 (plus £500 costs) for bringing the game into disrepute. Although the penalty was rescinded on appeal, Illingworth stepped down as chairman in 1997. It was a sad and unworthy end to an outstanding career.

He had appeared in 787 first-class matches, making 24,134 runs (including 22 centuries) at an average of 28.05, and taking 2,072 wickets at 20.28 apiece. In his 61 Tests (not counting the five matches against the Rest of the World in 1970) he scored 1,836 runs at 23.24 and took 122 wickets at 31.20. Perhaps his most impressive statistics are those showing the economy of his bowling: 1.91 per six-ball over in Tests, and 2.13 in all first-class cricket.

His books included Spinner’s Wicket (1969), Spin Bowling (1979), Captaincy (1980), Yorkshire and Back (1980), The Tempestuous Years 1977-83 (1987), One Man Committee (1996) and Fire and Ashes (2005).

In 2021 Illingworth announced that he was undergoing treatment for cancer, and said that after nursing his wife Shirley through the cancer that took her life in March that year, he had become convinced that terminally ill patients should have the choice to end their lives.

Ray Illingworth was appointed CBE in 1973. He married, in 1958, Shirley Milnes; they had two daughters. His son-in-law Ashley Metcalfe followed in his footsteps, playing cricket for Yorkshire in the 1980s and 1990s.

Raymond Illingworth, born June 8 1932, died December 25 2021