Yorkshire Grit: The Life of Ray Illingworth

Yorkshire Grit: The Biography of Ray Illingworth traces the rise of a brilliant Yorkshire cricketer from humble origins to the England captaincy and his triumph in regaining the Ashes in Australia in 1971. But the qualities that made him a fine captain, paradoxically, were the undoing of his time with Yorkshire and England.

"Illingworth a great all-rounder and a great all-round biography."

"This is one I would definitely recommend."

"Illy’s remarkable career, loving told by master biographer Mark Peel."

"Mark Peel''s engrossing Illingworth biography delves deep into Illingworth''s many verbal jousts with team colleagues and officials, discusses his tactical skills, his abrasive character and achievements in a remarkable all-round cricketing career spanning more than 50 years."

"The best part of what is a very good book, concerns the Illingworth years of England captaincy."

"Yorkshire Grit: The Life of Ray Illingworth is a fitting tribute to a man dedicated to cricket."

"Peel, whose previous biographies include the likes of England''s cricket captain Douglas Jardine and the politician Shirley Williams, knows his market and ,as such, the first reputable biography of Illingworth is a respectful work, a conventional and fair-minded run through his life which would have delighted the man himself."

"Mark Peel has done cricket lovers a favour with his balanced account of the different perspectives. The author has been nominated for less well-crafted books, and his publisher has served him well."

"In many ways the measure of the quality of a biography is how long it takes to read, and even if Yorkshire Grit hadn’t arrived during a mini heatwave I have no doubt I would still have been unable to make it last more than two days. It is an excellent book and reminded me of many things that I had forgotten, and also made sense of aspects of Illingworth’s life that I had previously struggled to put in their proper context... and there is a good selection of photographs and an index."

"Yorkshire Grit: The Life of Ray Illingworth, by Mark Peel and published by Pitch, is a splendid readable biography of the Yorkshire and England legend."

Yorkshire Grit: The Life of Ray Illingworth is a fascinating account of one of English cricket''s most outstanding figures told by award-winning writer Mark Peel. Raised in the harsh world of Yorkshire cricket, Illingworth''s all-round ability and tactical acumen made him an indispensable member of their great sides of the 1950s and 60s. Leaving Yorkshire in 1968, he went on to captain Leicestershire to unprecedented success, and also became one of England''s finest captains and the first man since Douglas Jardine nearly 40 years earlier to regain the Ashes in Australia. Yet for all his success on the field, Illingworth''s attritional tactics and refusal to compromise made him a controversial figure. His return to Yorkshire as manager was marred by a clash with Geoff Boycott, while his time as England''s chairman of selectors and manager saw clashes with Mike Atherton and other top players. In this first biography of Illingworth for nearly 50 years, Peel reappraises a dominant personality who never shied away from controversy.

• | Author: Mark Peel
• | Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• | Publication Date: Jul 03, 2023
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Hardback
• | ISBN-13: 9781801504522
• | ISBN-10: 1801504520