Raymond Illingworth CBE 1932-2021

For those of us privileged to be Leicestershire supporters in the 1970s, they were a special period: County Champions, cup and Sunday League winners. In the early years of that period, the county captain was also England captain, a man who joined Douglas Jardine and Sir Leonard Hutton in winning the Ashes in Australia.

Our captain was of course Raymond Illingworth CBE, who after an illness which followed a long period of nursing from his beloved wife Shirley, passed away on Christmas Day 2021 at the age of 89. Leicestershire County Cricket Club is deeply saddened to learn of his passing.

Mike Turner signed Ray on a three-year contract at the end of 1968, and an injury to Colin Cowdrey catapulted him to the England captaincy.

Not only was his cricketing tactical skill acknowledged, but Ray also started scoring runs for England like never before. The peak of his England captaincy was the two-nil victory in the 1970/71 series in Australia, the return of the Ashes after 12 years.

Overall, Ray played 61 Tests for England, scoring 1,836 runs and taking 122 wickets, putting him in a select group of players to record the 1,000 and 100 double. England lost only five of the 31 Tests when Ray was captain. 

In all First-Class cricket, Ray achieved the amazing double of 24,134 runs and 2,072 wickets. Ray is one of only nine cricketers to go past both 20,000 runs and 2,000 wickets in First-Class cricket, an elite list that includes another Leicestershire great, Ewart Astill. Ray’s domestic professional First-Class career took in 787 matches, spanning an incredible 32 years.

Success with Leicestershire followed; the Benson and Hedges Cup was won in 1972, the first trophy won by the county, followed by the John Player League in 1974 and the ultimate, the County Championship in 1975. Another knockout competition triumph followed that same year which also included the famous tour victory against Australia, and a further Sunday League title arrived in 1977.

Though his tactical skill was behind the success, the batting star of that summer was David Gower, and it was Ray’s guidance that helped transform this promising youngster to the magnificent test player he became.

Speaking as part of BT Sport’s commentary team during the third Ashes test between Australia and England in Melbourne, David said: “I’d like to pay my respects to Ray. He was so good for me, my first captain when I joined Leicestershire in the mid-1970s as an 18-year-old. He was very experienced, an Ashes winning captain who did extraordinary things at Leicestershire.”

Ray played 176 First-Class matches after becoming the 262nd player to represent Leicestershire in the County Championship, scoring 5,341 runs and taking 372 wickets. In List A cricket he was also a consistent all-round performer, scoring 2,178 runs and claiming 142 wickets, both at an average of just under 30.

Towards the end of his career Ray bowled less because of back problems, and also because the county also had three other capable slow bowlers to take advantage of favourable conditions or provide variety when the going was getting tough. Ray’s great skill was that he so often had hunches which worked, moving a fielder a few yards, or changing the bowling so that opposing batsmen could never settle and a crucial wicket followed.

He started off his cricketing life as a seam bowler but had experimented with off-spin in the nets. The professional at his Bradford League club Farsley, Jack Firth (who later played for Leicestershire) suggested he bowled spin to take advantage of a wet wicket; he took five wickets for five runs and the rest became history.

Perhaps Ray’s most remarkable batting achievement for Leicestershire was his final century, 119 not out against Northamptonshire in 1977, where he put on 228 for the last wicket with Ken Higgs, which ended when an exhausted Higgs ran himself out.

The scorecard shows that Leicestershire were 45 for nine before the duo joined forces; nobody made double figures outside their astonishing partnership. It remains in the record books to this day and will take some beating.

At the end of 1978 the call from Yorkshire came to return as cricket manager. This found him return as county captain in 1982 and 1983, and to demonstrate that he had not lost the knack, Yorkshire lifted the Sunday League title in 1983.

After a spell as a television commentator, he became supremo of the England cricket team in the 1990s and later became President of Yorkshire.

For over 70 years Ray was involved with Farsley cricket club, for whom he was still President at the time of his death helping out in all manner of roles, from raffle ticket salesman to groundsman. He always maintained his passion for the game.

A Suite in the Grace Road Pavilion was renamed in Ray’s honour in 2012, fittingly during a List A game against Yorkshire. It is a tribute to mark the many achievements of a Leicestershire County Cricket Club legend.

Leicestershire County Cricket Club sends its deepest sympathies to Ray’s family and friends at this extremely difficult time. Our thoughts are with you.