For most of his twenty-season county cricket career, Illingworth remained with Worcestershire. Perhaps the highlights of his county career came when the county won the County Championship in 1988 and 1989. After he failed to win a contract extension in 2000, the last two years of his time in the first-class game were spent with Derbyshire. He finished with 831 wickets at an average of 31.54, and more than 7,000 runs at 22.45, including four first-class centuries.
