Date-stamped : 30 May96 - 02:14 28 May 1996 Illingworth to face TCCB over Malcolm affair By Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Cricket Correspondent RAY ILLINGWORTH, England`s chairman of selectors, will be asked to appear as soon as possible before the Test and County Cricket Board discipline committee. He is expected to be legally represented at the hearing, which will consider whether his book One-Man Committee, written in conjunction with Jack Bannis- ter, the president of the Cricketers` Association, has breached board regulations covering public statements liable to bring the game into disrepute. The regulations forbid statements of a "derogatory nature, pre- judicial to the interests of cricket, which may bring the game, or any cricketer, or group of cricketers, into disrepute". As both chairman of selectors and a member of board committees, Illingworth is subject to these regulations; indeed, he was responsible for enforcing them as manager of the touring team last winter. The question will hang, therefore, on whether the various comments in the book about Devon Malcolm and other England players were derogatory. If found guilty of breaching the board`s regulations, Illingworth can be reprimanded, fined, suspended or removed altogether from the committee on which he serves. He said: "I shall be de- fending myself and will be putting my case strongly. I believe my comments have been fair and constructive." It is clear enough why previous chairmen and managers have been more reluctant than Illingworth to speak frankly. Tak- en literally, the regulations might be used to prevent almost any critical statement about a player or team. That may arguably be desirable but it is hardly realistic in an age of media openness. Incredibly, the secretary of the discipline committee, Tony Brown, was not even prepared to make public yesterday the names of those on the committee who will be asked to sit in judgment. In an atmosphere of mistrust and insecurity, some of the board`s own officials apparently believe they are defending matters of state security. The hearing will be chaired by Gerard Elias, a QC hitherto unk- nown outside the legal circuit with a relatively short experience of cricket. One of the selectors, David Graveney, is normally co-opted to hearings to represent players in his capacity as secretary of the Cricketers` Association, but as the man on the carpet this time will not be a present player. It will be suggested that he not join the other 10, who are mainly members of county committees. This hearing threatens to destabilise the England team In judging Illingworth, the committee will surely have to take into account the fact that they exonerated Malcolm for his own criticisms of the chairman in a series of newspaper arti- cles in February. It is germane, too, that Illingworth did not seek to become chairman of selectors in 1994, but willingly responded when he was proposed. However imperfectly he has done the job, he took it primarily in the interests of English cricket and for a salary which in theory merely compensates him for his previous media earnings. This makes it all the more unfortunate that some of those who seek to defend Illingworth should do so by attacking estab- lishment figures who have worked equally hard for the good of English cricket, notably the unrelated Smiths, M J K and A C. The latter, in nearly 10 years as chief executive of the TCCB, has done a difficult job conscientiously. The obsession with secrecy (necessary, of course, on some issues) must largely be the result of his policy. Too often he has been indecisive, and reactive rather than proactive when positive leadership has been required. But his instinct for fairness and his administrative competence are ignored by those who speak of "Lord`s" as if the board were some public school and university mafia rather than the administrative hub of 18 diverse county clubs. The con- stitution is the major problem, not those who try to make it work. M J K Smith, the former Warwickshire and England captain, chairman of his county, the all-conquering club of the last two seasons, manager of Mike Atherton`s sides to the West Indies and Australia, and chairman of the board`s development commit- tee, is no more deserving of calumny. To some extent, perhaps, he has brought it on himself by his taciturnity, his preference for working behind closed doors and his evident distrust of the media, but he had good reason to object to Illingworth`s cri- ticisms from afar in Australia. He has worked hard for cricket- ing causes since selling his business. One may disagree with the intransigence of the Smiths some- times but let us recognise that they, like Illingworth, have the game at heart. Sadly, this hearing threatens to desta- bilise the England team at a time when they are looking ahead with more confidence. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http.//www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by Shash (shs2@*.cwru.edu)