The best Dad’s Army episode ever: Ray Illingworth on England's 1970-71 Ashes success

HUW TURBERVILL speaks to the skipper about the tour of Australia which saw the urn contested over seven Tests - but the ageing tourists prevailed 2-0

It’s 50 years since Ray Illingworth’s magnificent man-management in Australia gave England one of their most famous Ashes victories.

I’m delighted to report that the former England captain is well at 88, although frustrated that he could not watch his beloved Farsley CC in Leeds last summer.

He was 38 when he led England to Australia – and the average age of his squad was 30… thir-thir-thir-thirty. In that heat! They were dubbed Dad’s Army!

An extra Test was tacked on at the end of the tour because the third at the MCG was washed out. It was an extraordinary risk by the management. Not only did it give Australia a bonus chance of retaining the Ashes, with England leading 1-0, but the tourists’ team morale was put in jeopardy, thanks to the derisory cash offer that accompanied it. England won it against the odds, however, to take the series 2-0, one of only five Ashes wins down under since the War.

Illy’s finest feat was harnessing the mavericks – Geoffrey Boycott and John Snow, but he stresses it was a team effort.

Boycott made 657 Test runs at 93.85. "Boycs had his best tour," he told The Cricketer. "We got through to him on that trip and he responded. If he hadn’t broken his arm and missed the final Test, I think he’d have broken Wally Hammond’s 1928/29 runs record for an Ashes tour (he had 1,535, just 18 short)."

Snow was nearly sent home by tour manager David Clark for not trying hard enough at nets and fielding sloppily against South Australia. Illy gave him a talking to, and he took 31 Test wickets.

^{England's ageing squad could finally celebrate after a 62-run win in Sydney}

John Edrich (648 Test runs) and Bob Willis (12 wickets at 27.41 in his first taste of Test cricket) were terrific too.

"We won the fourth Test, and then that seventh Test (both at the SCG) sticks in my mind," said Illy. "We weren’t paid much for it (£25 a man)… in fact, I’m not sure we ever saw the money. To risk the Ashes like that.

"We lost the toss, and really had to fight hard to stay in the match. Then there was the Snow/Terry Jenner row. To win after all that was terrific. 

"They talk about great team efforts now, but it was nothing like it was then – we were away six and a half months! I had a wife and young kids at home and they couldn’t come out to see me. 

"On my previous Ashes tour (1962/63), on a so-called day off, we went from Brisbane to Sydney, and Sydney to Perth, by plane, then did a 200-mile coach trip – 3,400 miles! I was never a good traveller. I didn’t eat much on the move. When we finally stopped I ordered a pudding and (stand-in tour manager) Billy Griffith said: ‘You don’t have time for that.’ I said: ‘I’m famished, I’ll eat that in the time it takes you to smoke that cigar!’"

Another notable aspect of that ’70/71 tour was the first ODI being played at the MCG on January 5 (hastily scheduled to replace the lost Test). 

Illy admits it was low down on England’s list of priorities: "We weren’t paid much… but the Aussies were on full match fees. Hand on heart it was the only match on the whole tour we were not bothered about winning." (They lost by five wickets).

Those ODIs will never catch on.