Ray Illingworth - Leicestershire and England

Leicestershire and England

When Ray Illingworth left Yorkshire in 1968 it appeared that the Test career of the 36 year old off-spinner was over, but he transferred to Leicestershire and was made captain. Although he had never been captain before his experience and knowledge of the game were widely believed to have helped Yorkshire to their County Championship victories in 1966, 1967 and 1968. The selectors had long regarded Colin Cowdrey as England's natural cricket captain, but he broke an Achilles tendon early in the season and Illingworth was his surprise replacement after only a month as county captain. Illingworth had been in and out of the national side for years, but had taken 20 wickets (13.30) against India in 1967 and 13 more (22.39) against Australia in 1968. He was originally chosen over his rivals like Brian Close as he was not a threat to Cowdrey's long-term captaincy due to his age and inability to establish a regular spot in the Test team. In the Second Test against the West Indies at Lords England collapsed to 61-5, but the new skipper made a forceful 113 out of the last 155 runs and became a hero. He beat both the West Indies and New Zealand 2-0 and was confirmed as captain even when Cowdrey recovered.