Donald Trelford:Illingworth should be spared martyrdom (27 Aug 1996)

Illingworth should be spared martyrdom

By Donald Trelford On Tuesday

RAY Illingworth`s tragedy is that he took over the England cricket team too late. Had he been given his chance earlier - before bad habits became entrenched, when he was closer in age to the players and when his abrasive management style was more acceptable - he might just have halted the process of decline.

As it is, he bows out as chairman of selectors in the shadow of defeat and potential disgrace, with the slur of "bringing the game into disrepute" hanging over his head.

He was wrong in many ways about Devon Malcolm, as I said forcefully at the time, and he should not have allowed the damning extracts from his book to appear while he was in office. For that he has been rightly reprimanded.

But even his worst critic would not wish him to leave the game like this. He has done the state some service, which deserves to be recognised when the wise and not-so wise men meet next week to consider his appeal. Apart from anything else, he makes a terrible martyr.

Even so, in terms of selection and psychology, there were problems right to the end of his regime; Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick would surely have done better at the Oval than Chris Lewis and Ian Salisbury.

And was it sensible, I wonder, to annouce the omission of Lewis and Dominic Cork from the one-day squad and then expect them to go out next day and play their hearts out for England?

WHILE backing unpopular causes, this column feels impelled to put in a word for Graeme Hick. It is incredible that England seem to be contemplating a tour of Zimbabwe without that country`s favourite son. Even accepting that it was right to drop him this summer England will need seven batsmen on tour and I can see only five (the first five at the Oval) who are clearly ahead of him (there must still be a question mark against Nick Knight).

For me, the worst head-dropping moment among many at the Oval was when Salisbury bowled Saeed Anwar a full toss on his legs in the first innings when on 99.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)