Tributes to Yorkshire Cricket Legend Brian Close
Brian Close's fellow Yorkshiremen have issued a chorus of glowing tributes for one of England's bravest batsmen.
Close, who has died at the age of 84, remains the youngest Englishman ever to win a Test cap - at the age of 18 against New Zealand in 1949 - and he went on to captain his country seven times in 22 Tests.
He also led the great Yorkshire team of the 1960s to four County Championship titles before moving on to Somerset - where he was a guiding force in the young careers of future household names Ian Botham and Viv Richards.
Close hit almost 35,000 first-class runs in a long career which extended until the end of his association with Somerset, but officially did not end until a decade later when he led his own XI in a match at the Scarborough Festival.
Throughout, he was renowned for his fearless approach to batting and fielding - confronting, on his Test recall at the age of 45 in 1976 in an era without protective helmets, a barrage of brilliant West Indies fast bowlers at Old Trafford.
Such memories underpinned the words of England and Wales Cricket Board chairman
Colin Graves and Yorkshire CCC President Dickie Bird as they voiced their personal recollections of Close.
A clutch of others, such as former England captain Michael Vaughan, remembered the help Close gave them in the formative years of their professional careers.
Graves said: Brian will go down in cricket history as one of the game's greatest ever captains and a player whose fearless and courageous approach was the stuff of legend - whether he was facing fast bowling or fielding in his favourite position at short leg.
“He will forever be remembered for the bravery he showed in standing up to the West Indies' fearsome pace attack on their 1976 tour of England – a characteristic display of guts and determination which captured the imagination of all England cricket fans.
“But Brian was also someone who made a lifelong contribution to his beloved
Yorkshire County Cricket club; his captaincy was at the heart of Yorkshire's dominance of the county game in the 1960s, and it was a great honour for him to serve as the club's president in his later years.
“This is a sad day for cricket - and we send our condolences to Brian's widow, Vivien, his children Lance and Lyn and all his many friends within the wider cricket family. ''
Left-hander Close - an all-rounder who took almost 1,200 first-class wickets with his off-breaks, to add to his 52 hundreds - was a cricketer who never took a backward step, on or off the pitch.
It did not always endear him to officialdom, and perhaps cost him the chance of more Test caps – but he won a raft of admirers too.
Among them, from a later generation, was Ashes-winning England captain
Vaughan.
He tweeted: “Such a sad day ... he was a true inspiration to all of us ... thanks Brian for helping me as a kid growing up at Yorkshire ... #RIPClosey”
Close returned to Yorkshire to captain the Academy team in the 1980s, and even after then was not averse to demonstrating how things should be done.
Vaughan also posted: I once had an lbw problem. Closey aged 60 came into the nets and batted without pads ... 'only way, young man, you will sort your problem'''.
Matthew Hoggard, part of the England attack which helped Vaughan lift the urn in 2005, was similarly struck by Close's evergreen enthusiasm.
“RIP to a Yorkshire great, Brian Close,”he wrote.
“His toughness was legendary, his talents immense!
“Will always remember bowling to Closey in the indoor nets as he did his pre-season preparation to captain the YCCAcademy at 65yr old !''
Bird and Ray Illingworth played alongside Close at Headingley in his younger days.
Bird told Sky Sports 2: “Brian Close was an all-time great, both of Yorkshire and England.
“He will go down as one of the bravest cricketers of all time. He would stand at short leg, about a yard away from the bat, and would never flinch if the ball hit him. He would take it in his stride and carry on.
“As a captain, his record speaks for itself.
“He is Yorkshire's most successful post-War captain - winning the County
Championship on four occasions - and will always be regarded as one of the best in the game.
“He led from the front and ... commanded huge respect from his fellow players.
He had the ability to get the best out of every player ...”
Illingworth added: Once we could be attacking ... then he was a wonderful captain, and a wonderful player.
“Really, he was a wonderful man as well. He could play anything, golf, snooker, dive off the ship's funnel on the way to Australia into the pool.
“There was nothing he wouldn't attempt.”
A statement on Yorkshire's club website on Monday morning read: “It is with the deepest regret that Yorkshire County Cricket Club announce the death of Brian Close, CBE, one of Yorkshire and England's greatest ever captains and one of the game's most courageous players.”