Brian Close – fearless warrior and fine captain

Former England skipper passes away at 84

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Brian Close, who has died aged 84, had a rough deal with England. He was an immense all-round cricketer, and a superb captain, but he won only 22 Test caps (spanning an astonishing 27 years).

He had success as England captain in a short spell, winning six out of his seven Tests (against India, Pakistan and West Indies) with one draw, between 1967 and 1968. He lost the captaincy because he was held responsible for Yorkshire’s slow over-rate in a County Championship match against Warwickshire – a tad harsh, perhaps.

He was also one of the bravest – or reckless? – men ever to take the field. He would barely flinch while being battered by the pacemen (most notably by Michael Holding at Old Trafford in 1976), or fielding fearlessly close at short-leg. He famously said: “How can the ball hurt you? It's only on you for a second.”

He captained Yorkshire to four titles, and later led Somerset, nurturing Ian Botham and Viv Richards.

Close’s numbers are immense; just six shy of 35,000 first-class runs (with 52 centuries), and 1,171 wickets (a mixture of seam and off-spin). Alas he did not make the runs he should have done for England – 887 at an average of 25.34, with a highest score of 70 against West Indies at Lord’s in 1963, one of four Test half-centuries.

I interviewed him about the 1950/51 tour to Australia. He had been picked too young, against New Zealand at 18, and then in Australia he developed a thigh injury. England captain Freddie Brown and the senior pros thought he was swinging the lead, and he was made to play through the pain.

For Close, a 19-year-old in the middle of his National Service, being picked for a tour to Australia should have been the proudest moment of his life. It was a miserable tour. He only played the second Test, at Melbourne, which England lost, with the series ending in a 4-1 reverse.

I was not sure what to expect when I rang Close in 2009 at his home in Baildon – this fearsome warrior. He was extremely accommodating, however, and lucid at the age of 78. “I was a young kid,” he said. “I had played one season in the County Championship, in 1949 [he did the double – 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, the youngest player to do so], and needed a couple more years. When I turned 18 they took me out of National Service to go to Australia, but the only cricket I had played the summer before was for the Combined Services – I’d had no Championship matches for Yorkshire. I made an unbeaten 108 against Western Australia at Perth in the tour opener, but tore the roots of a tendon in my thigh later in the tour. When it came to Melbourne, though, Freddie Brown pleaded with me to play, he said to balance the team. I could barely walk! I said I would play, as long as I could have my thigh strapped up. But my decision backfired, and I scored one and nought. If I’d had more bloody sense I would have said I was not fit enough. 

“There were too many amateurs on the tour – John Dewes and John Warr, and Freddie Brown – and there had been too many amateur captains. It continued until Len Hutton became England’s first professional captain [for 65 years] against India [in 1952]. Players like Peter May and Colin Cowdrey were good cricketers, but they didn’t approach it – in terms of fitness to play cricket – in the same way as the Australians, who were absolutely thorough. Our amateurs were a little on the soft side.

“I also think the English had not really recovered from the War in the same way the Australians had. Our lads missed out on five years of their lives because of it. There was still rationing in England [until 1954], but there were no remnants of the War in Australia. The amateurs wanted to enjoy the cricket; they did not want to be bothered by a young lad like me, who had come out of the Army. I had never been out of England before. I could not understand the scene.

“They played to the best of their ability, but then after play they wanted to enjoy the hospitality. I didn’t drink and I didn’t smoke – at least in those days! – I just lived for fresh air and playing sport. I was too young.”

Trevor Bailey said Close had been the best young player he had seen until the emergence of Sachin Tendulkar in the late Eighties. The young Close took some positives, however. “I’d learned a lot about the game, I realised I could not just go out to Australia and wallop their bowlers all over the place, and the tour helped me grow up,” he said. “It was not an enjoyable trip in some ways, but it was still the experience of a lifetime.”

 


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