Illingworth - 'Bloody awful' England (16 December 1998)
RAY Illingworth yesterday delivered a stinging criticism of England's performance in the Adelaide Test
16-Dec-1998
16 December 1998
Illingworth - 'Bloody awful' England
By Nelson Clare
RAY Illingworth yesterday delivered a stinging criticism of
England's performance in the Adelaide Test. The former chairman
of selectors, who led England to Ashes success as captain in
1970, said: "It was bloody awful. I can't say any more than that.
I'm glad I'm out of it.
"I think we got it wrong with the side we put out by playing four
bowlers in 40-50 degree heat. But you can pull apart every
department in the team."
Illingworth also suggested that too much was being spent on the
team for too little reward. "For me, what has to be looked at is
the money spent on the team. We have more coaches, managers,
physios and even more hangers-on than ever but the results are
just as bad.
"What depresses me most is not the fact that England lose in
Australia, but that they're laying down and dying. We're getting
blown away."
Illingworth is encouraged that the first-class counties have at
last grasped the nettle of two divisions in the championship for
2000.
He fears, though, that the innovation is being set up 24 years
too late after proposing two divisions in 1976 and said: "You can
never tell if two divisions will improve things. It depends on
the environment and the players' willingness to learn."
Meanwhile, Tim Lamb, chief executive of the England and Wales
Cricket Board, stressed that cricket's hierarchy had been putting
forward radical proposals to improve the state of the Test side.
Lamb also warned against descending into a mood of doom and gloom
and stressed that at junior level - most notably with the
under-19s, who are world champions - great strides were being
made.
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)