Illingworth has been maintaining, ever since England lost the first Test at Lord's to the touring Pakistanis, that the side needed an extra bowler in order to contain the in-form Pak batting lineup. And, the chairman of the England selectors concluded, the only way to achieve that was to drop wicket-keeper Jack Russell, entrust the gloves to in-form opener Alec Stewart, and use the vacancy to accomodate an extra bowler.
This is precisely what the selectors did when, on Sun- day, they dropped Russell and included Glamorgan off-spinner Robert Croft, 26, in the England squad of 12.
Croft will, with leg-break bowler Ian Salisbury, give England skipper Michael Atherton a brace of spinning options when England go to the Oval hoping to level the series at one game apiece, with the second Test at Headingley having meandered to a draw.
Atherton needs a win, if only to halt Pakistan's suc- cessful run against England in the past. The last four Test series between the two countries have all gone in favour of Pakistan.
The last time England played two spinners was when John Emburey and Phil Edmonds of Middlesex did duty for the side. It is not yet clear whether both Croft and Salis- bury will play at the Oval - if they do, then Chris Lewis who, after a brilliant start against the touring Indians ear- lier this year has reverted to his wayward ways, will prob- ably be the one to fetch the drinks.
Croft, 26, is a spinner with a good, high arm action, hitting the deck regularly to gain lift and bounce. His consistency with the ball has thus far got him 57 wick- ets this season, including 18 in the last three games, and with three fifties Croft also lays some claim to all-rounder status. Croft has also served two tours of duty with the England A side, to the West Indies in 1991-1992 and to South Africa in 1993-1994.
Interestingly, however, England has never really suc- ceeded at the Oval with the spin option. After Tufnell broke the back of the West Indies way back in 1991 with a devas- tating six for 25 on a wearing pitch, slow bowlers - and those tried include, besides Tufnell, Peter Such, Graeme Hick and Mike Watkinson - have managed only two wickets in the next five years, and none at all in the last four.
None of this worries Illingworth, apparently. ''Croft has done well by bowling a lot of overs, and he's proved he can be useful with the bat as well,'' said the chairman of selectors, himself a former Test off-spinner. ''His name has been on the tips of our tongues all summer, and this is a just reward, and gives him something to aim for. We haven't been able to give him an opportunity before now because of the pitches we've played on.''
The selectorial thinking is that an off-spinner will do well against Pakistan's array of left-handed strokeplayers.
''The mood around the selection table was that we needed five bowlers,'' said skipper Atherton, himself one of the five selectors. ``So we've opted to leave out Jack Russell in order to go for victory. Jack however is a first choice keeper, and will be touring with England,'' Atherton promised, referring to the upcoming tours of New Zealand and Zimbabwe. ``I hope that has cushioned the blow. This is a one-off game and tactics demanded it.''
Referring to the selection of Croft, Atherton said, ``He gives us a balance of leg-spinner and off-spinner - and it makes sense to have an off-spinner in the side with all the left handers in the Pakistan order. Our batting played very well as a unit at Headingley and we would like to keep the same top six. I think we will win at the Oval, but we need to bowl better.''
Atherton indicated that while the gameplan was for Stewart to double up as opener and keeper on his home ground, there might be a slight change in the batting lineup if Eng- land bowls first and Stewart has a long stint behind the stumps. ``In that case, we might have Nick Knight open the bat- ting, to give Alec some time to rest,'' the England skipper indicated.
With Salisbury almost certain to get the nod, it appears likely that England will now go in with three seamers in Allan Mullally, Dominic Cork and Andrew Caddick, and two spinners in Salisbury and Croft. The casualty here will be Chris Lewis, who was below par both in the second Test at Headingley, and in the subsequent NatWest semifinal against Essex last week.
Darren Gough of Yorkshire - another name that featured prominently in the selectorial discussion - will thus have to wait longer for a possible recall, despite a series of good performances in county cricket this season.
The squad, as selected, reads M A Atherton (Lancashire, captain), A J Stewart (Surrey), Nasser Hussain (Essex), Graham Thorpe (Surrey), John Crawley (Lancashire) Nick Knight (Warwickshire), Dominic Cork (Derbyshire), Chris Lewis (Surrey), Ian Salisbury (Sussex), Andrew Caddick (Somerset), Allan Mullally (Leicestershire), and Robert Croft (Glamorgan).