Illingworth On Sedate Pitches In RSA (01 Nov 1995)

SOWETO, South Africa (Oct 30, 1995 - 14:36 EST) - England manager and chairman of selectors Ray Illingworth on Monday called for an end to the sedate pitches used by his team on their tour of South Africa.

Illingworth said after the washout against a South African Invitation XI: "We have encountered nothing but slow, low wickets so far. We need to play on a wicket with a bit more pace and bounce, something more akin to the conditions that we are likely to encounter in the test matches."

Despite the playing conditions in the black township of Soweto, England were favorites to win, having left the Invitation XI needing 380 runs on the final day with nine wickets remaining.

"I thought the match went reasonably well," said Illingworth. It would have been nice if our bowlers could have had another day of work in the middle but on the whole they did well, particularly the spinners."

Although Richard Illingworth and Mike Watkinson claimed 10 of the 11 Invitation XI wickets to fall, Illingworth is aware that the test series against South Africa is likely to be decided by pace bowlers.

"Devon (Malcolm) is coming right slowly and Angus Fraser had a reasonable trot in this match. But they need to play on something that offers them some encouragement.

"As far as the batting goes, I`m a lot happier. Everyone except Robin Smith has spent time at the crease and made runs. Alec (Stewart) has obviously done better than most but everyone has made at least 30s and 40s which is very encouraging."

Illingworth disagreed with mounting speculation that Smith has too many off-pitch commitments in the land of his birth and is struggling to concentrate on cricket.

"We`re not sure why Robin is struggling, there`s no reason for him to be. Perhaps he`s just a bit too keen to do well. But there is still time for him to come right before the tests so we`re not overly worried."

The washout deprived Jonty Rhodes of a chance to show South Africa`s selectors that he has regained form. He struggled on his country`s recent tour of Zimbabwe and made just a single in the first innings against England.

Like Smith, Rhodes is seen as an integral part of his country`s batting line-up but desperately needs runs to cement his place.