The real Illingworth stands up for himself

England's surprise selection for today's first Test tells Jon Culley how he has changed from negative to positive

At quite which point in the selection process for today's first Test the name of Richard Illingworth got its first mention is not known. However, it can be assumed it was pretty late.

Certainly, if anyone foresaw a recall for the Worcestershire left-arm spinner, the player himself did not. Until his namesake, Raymond, disturbed his Sunday morning lie-in with a 10 o'clock phone call, the team for Headingley was not exactly uppermost in his mind.

"As far as I know, there had been no indication at all that I was even being considered," he said. "I've spoken to Fred Titmus a couple of times since the start of the season, and bumped into David Graveney, but only to exchange pleasantries. Cricket was hardly mentioned.

"Put it this way, when I woke up on Sunday morning I was not jumping about waiting to see if my name would be on Teletext."

So, on top of the other charges levelled at the selectors for choosing a bowler apparently tried and rejected at Test level, here is a choice that looks suspiciously like a belatedly expounded theory, which one member of the panel has sold to the others.

Illingworth was not thrilled by press reaction to his call-up, which even the more even-handed commentators condemned as a backward step. Being a calm sort of chap, he will not be taking the field with steam coming from his ears but he would like, nevertheless, to "prove a few people wrong".

He fully believes he is a better bowler in better form than he was four years ago, when he claimed the wicket of Phil Simmons at Trent Bridge with his first ball in Test cricket but was discarded after the next match, at Edgbaston, with a record of four wickets in total at 53.25 runs each.

It would be a surprise, perhaps, were he to say otherwise but this revised assessment is not his alone. Since the coming of four-day cricket he has been quietly shedding his reputation as a flat, negative, containing bowler and, at 31, with 13 years of experience behind him, he is starting to express himself.

Others, such as his England team-mate Alec Stewart, whom he dismissed on Monday as Worcestershire beat Surrey in the Championship, are taking note.

"He bowled very well," Stewart said. "He gave the ball some air and turned it." With 21 first-class wickets so far, Illingworth is almost a third of the way already to matching the 75 he took in 1990, his most successful year.

Yes, there will be butterflies this morning as 11 o'clock draws closer; but no lack of confidence. As he explained, thoughtfully stating his case, things are different now. "When I was first selected I believe I wasn't on top of my game," he said. "I had hardly done any bowling at all whereas this year, at Worcester, I've been one of our main strike bowlers really.

"I've bowled a lot of overs and I'm coming into the game with quite a few wickets behind me. I've been bowling well and guys have been telling me I'm bowling well. So there must be something in it. I've got plenty of confidence."

Longer contests have helped, as well as the simple benefits of experience. "The wickets at Worcester are no more conducive to spin but around the country they are and they do start to turn on the fourth day.

"Rather than games ending in a run chase, where you are attempting to slow the thing down, you are often trying to get 10 wickets for 300 in the day. You have to bowl people out and you don't have to contain as much.

"I've been able to experiment and try different things out and they've paid off. I still try to keep things tight; it is no good getting 5 for 150 and losing the game. But I'm an attacking bowler now in that I try to get people out with nearly every ball.

"I'm bowling the ball a lot slower, which I've actually made a conscious effort to do, and I'm turning it more often. And I'm probably a lot more street-wise than I was four years ago."

Curiously, given that the Leeds ground was the focal point of his boyhood aspirations, this will be his first first-class match at Headingley. He was born in Greengates, barely five miles away. If a second chance in Test cricket excites him, to be given it here makes it special indeed.

"I wanted to play for Yorkshire. I had one or two trials but they had Phil Carrick on the staff and another guy in the seconds and they wanted to give him a try.

"It was disappointing but I realised there were other people from Yorkshire who had found success elsewhere and at the end of the day all I wanted to do was play first-class cricket.

"I feel proud to play anywhere for England. But to do it in Yorkshire is special. I know that several of my friends will be coming and they'll be right behind me. It will give me quite a buzz."