Illingworth Forced To Bite The Bullet (19 Apr 1996)

19 April 1996

Illingworth forced to bite the bullet

By Christopher Martin-Jenkins

ENGLAND`S selection committee this season will be Ray Illingworth, chairman; David Lloyd, coach; David Graveney, the secretary of the Cricketers` Association; Graham Gooch, who retired from Test cricket last year but is playing a final season for Essex; and Mike Atherton, assuming he is reappointed as captain by the other four.

It is a well-balanced group in terms of geography, age, experience and the breadth of the interests which each man will represent. Nevertheless the first duty for all concerned is to renounce the factionalism and intrigue which preceded the election yesterday of Graveney and Gooch.

The need, above all, is for Illingworth, a chairman of much reduced influence, to show magnanimity and altruism, not always attributes which one ascribes to a man who has many other qualities.

Deprived of The Management of the side six months earlier than he originally wanted to be, his two preferred candidates, John Edrich and Brian Bolus, have now been rejected by the counties, who had to decide from eight candidates for the two elected places on the committee.

Bolus and Ian Botham were edged out by Gooch, despite Illingworth`s reservations about having a current player. In fact, there is surely no better place than the middle to judge a cricketer`s worth, and none better than the county dressing room, to become aware of what players are saying and thinking about friends and rivals.

Cricketing politics apart, Gooch was always likely to be more acceptable than someone busy with many other concerns like Botham, and it can only be a relief that the concerns of the England team will not be overshadowed by having a member whose every sneeze, whether he wanted it so or not, would have been `news`.

Illingworth has been roundly snubbed by the majority of counties who felt that, though it was their own governing body who appointed him only a year ago, the former Yorkshire stalwart and Leicestershire and England captain had got too big for his boots.

Graveney began that process yesterday by saying that he would "offer the hand of reconciliation

They disapproved, especially, of the public undermining of Devon Malcolm and the more private dressing-down of the Derbyshire fast bowler in the dressingroom at Newlands, which Malcolm himself chose to make public through a lucrative tabloid newspaper story. Neither came out well from that and Malcolm was fortunate not to be punished for breaking his contract.

There ought to be nothing wrong with a manager, coach or chairman, call him what you will, telling England players they have failed themselves and their country`s cricket when they have.

Home truths hurt, but they need to be spoken sometimes. That said, there are times and places. By the end of the winter tour too many of the players felt that they and their manager were on different wavelengths.

Illingworth`s responsibility now is to prepare the way for a successful last season in an official capacity by making sure that the new committee both speaks and acts in unison. Mike Atherton, as soon as he is appointed, also needs to make it plain that there are no hard feelings.

Graveney began that process yesterday by saying that he would "offer the hand of reconciliation" and adding: "I`m just looking forward to fulfilling whatever task the chairman wants me to do."

Graveney`s reappointment, in marked contrast to his vetoed attempt to become chairman, was welcomed in a brief statement from the Cricketers` Association.

Illingworth, Graveney, Gooch and Lloyd will be together at Chelmsford this weekend for England A versus the Rest, a four-day game starting tomorrow

Gooch, for his part, said: "I believe that having a player on the committee is a good idea in principle and I`m delighted the counties think that way, too. My only motivation is that England do well."

Illingworth, Graveney, Gooch and Lloyd will be together at Chelmsford this weekend for England A versus the Rest, a fourday game starting tomorrow, in which several men with realistic chances of playing this season against India and Pakistan have an early chance to press their claims. Two in particular, Nasser Hussain and Ian Salisbury, are ripe for promotion and an extended run.

The future management and selection of England sides is the subject of the Acfield Working Party, which meets for the first time today. Their minds were concentrated yesterday by Lord Alexander, chairman of NatWest Bank, whose valuable sponsorship of the Development of Excellence programme continues alongside the patronage of the NatWest Trophy, worth 42,500 to this year`s winners.

Lord Alexander criticised the delay in setting up the England Cricket Board and the National Cricket Academy and suggested that starting championship matches on Wednesdays, which might finish in three days, was not the way to attract weekend watchers of county cricket.

It was a warning, perhaps, that sponsors will be generous only so long as they feel that the game is going in the right direction.

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