England cricket in mourning as Ashes hero dies

2 years ago 353

Ray Illingworth, a erstwhile England cricket captain who went connected to manager the team, has died. He was 89.

Illingworth, who led England to a 2-0 bid triumph successful Australia successful the 1970-71 Ashes, had been undergoing radiotherapy for esophageal cancer. Yorkshire, the English region Illingworth played for, announced his decease this morning.

"Our thoughts are with Ray's household and the wider Yorkshire household who held Ray truthful beloved to their hearts," Yorkshire tweeted.

Illingworth played 61 trial matches for England betwixt 1958 and 1973, scoring 1,836 runs astatine an mean of 23.24 and helium claimed 122 wickets.

He captained England 31 times, winning 12 of those matches. He served arsenic president of selectors for England betwixt 1993 and 1996 and coached the nationalist squad successful 1995-96.

"Ray was a superb cricketer, and his heavy love, passionateness and cognition for the crippled meant helium continued to lend agelong aft his playing days had finished," England and Wales Cricket Board main enforcement Tom Harrison said.

Illingworth's top-level playing vocation spanned 32 years from his debut successful 1951 to his last quality successful 1983. He finished with a last full of 24,134 first-class runs and 2,072 wickets and was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year successful 1960.

Illingworth's wife, Shirley, died earlier this twelvemonth aft battling crab and Illingworth had offered his enactment to alteration the laws successful Britain connected assisted dying.

"I don't privation to person the past 12 months that my woman had," helium had said. "She had a unspeakable clip going from infirmary to infirmary and successful pain. I judge successful assisted dying. The mode my woman was, determination was nary pleasance successful beingness successful the past 12 months, and I don't spot the constituent of surviving similar that, to beryllium honest.

"But we don't person assisted dying successful England yet, truthful you don't person the enactment bash you? They are debating it and I deliberation it volition travel eventually. A batch of doctors are against it, but if they had to unrecorded similar my woman did successful her past 12 months they mightiness alteration their minds."

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