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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/34244820
Kenny Mann on suicide watch.
Kenny Mann on suicide watch.
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Will have a drink in the Crown & Sceptre down by Taunton station this lunchtime to remember him. He used to keep a room above the pub during the summer when he joined Somerset as captain in his forties.
Played a massive part in making Botham and Viv Richards (especially the latter) the cricketers and the men they became. When Close got floored by a bouncer while facing the W Indies for England at the age of about 45, a concerned Richards ran up to him and asked, "You OK, skipper?" "FOOK OFF!" came the reply. |
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Will Beefy do the eulogy?
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The batsman was also a footballer in his youth, playing for Leeds United, Arsenal and Bradford City.
Didn't know that ! |
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Very sad news.
The bravest man to ever walk on a cricket pitch. Useful pro footballer too. RIP indeed |
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Tough bloke and he loved a bet, RIP, one of my sporting heroes.
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He ran a Fish & Chip shop in Leeds for quite a few years.
Was always generous with his portions. |
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What a hell of a side Yorkshire had in the 50s and 60s.
The 60s one that I remember so well, and watched many times was made up of the likes of Boycott Stott Bolus Ken Taylor Don Wilson Padgett Nicholson Close Illingworth Binks Trueman plus a good few more whose names escapeme for now. |
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No soft southern pansies or foreigners in that lot. All Yorkshireman!
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You know the cricket season has arrived when you hear the sound of leather on Brian Close
Eric Morecambe |
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When I was a kid I had some cricket coaching off him. One thing I remember is him chucking the ball at us as hard as he could from about 15 yards away because our hands needed toughening up. He was right as well (everyone's catching was instantly improved!) although you couldn't do it today. The other thing I remember was winning a fiver off him after getting him to get a thin nick on one in the nets
 Top man |
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 Think he ended his career as Pro for Todmorden in the Lancs League. Wonder what Boycott's thoughts are today. |
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First test at 18, last at 45.
Last first class innings at 55.  According to Imran Khan, Close once stood his ground when fielding at short leg when a batsman played a pull shot, the ball hit him on the forehead, rebounded and was caught at cover. |
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The famous Holding over clip is up on the BBC sports page
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I would love to have been fly on the wall when Close, Illingworth, Boycott and Trueman were perhaps having a free and frank exchange of opinions on a matter where they didn't quite see eye-to-eye.
One time I can remember at least three of those four ever being on the same page was when this farcical event took place. One of the most wincingly excruciating 'PC' moments in cricket history. . http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1492262.stm |
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Alun,i picked up fred truemans biography on holiday and the first chapter is devoted to a meeting of the four of them for lunch along with the author Chris Waters at the Devonshire Arms less than a year before Trueman's death.
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Nice one.
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Sharpe was an omission on your 60s Yorkshire team, kenny.
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I've never really understood the big deal about Close's batting in that over by Holding.
How to play top class fast bowling? Rubbish! John Edrich at the other end played it far better in that he got out of the way and din't get hit. How tough Close was? Well, yes to a degree (he didn't rub where he got pinged by Holding) but every batsman wore just a cap or went bareheaded in those days. They got hit and got on with it. In later years Gatting and Andy Lloyd got hospitalised by the Windies attack, but came back and batted again, which is arguably a more brave thing to do. I think that over shows more what a white South African could stir up when he talks about a black man 'grovelling' tbh. |
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Agreed Rog.
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Agreed. Standing there and getting hit is not a very clever way of playing very fast short pitched bowling. Perhaps that is why his test record isn't very impressive full stop. In fact if he ever heard the likes of Kenny Mann and co eulogising about his career he'd prob say something witty and blunt like "fook off you wee vegetarian fairy nancy boy". You see they don't mince their words up there as like. They say what they like and they like what oh you get the picture etc etc.
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He might also call you a n1gg3r
Because he was a bit of a blunt, plain-speaking old racist was our Brian |
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A friend of mine once had an encounter with a certain F S Trueman at a petrol station in God's County. The conversation went like this :
My friend : "Hello Mr Trueman" FST : "F*** off son". I think we'll all agree, a most delightful and fragrant chap. |
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He played 22 test matches in 27 years. He scored 887 runs at 25 (highest score of 70) and took 18 wickets.
Let us just digest that for a minute. |
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Worth remembering how poorly rewarded they were. As Somerset's captain Close was never paid more than £3,000/year. That's why he kept the room over the pub, while his wife and kids remained in Yorkshire - he needed a base back there for his winter job as a salesman in the pub trade.
Mind you, the fact that one of Dave Pipe's shops was on the other side of the road from the pub may have had something to do with it too. As Somerset couldn't afford to pay travel expenses in those days, Close used to ferry Botham, Richards and the Aus legspinner Kerry O'Keefe around the country in his motor. He'd terrify them by driving with the Sporting Life opened over the wheel. |
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He scored 1,000 runs and took 100 wickets in a season as a teenager before missing a year to do national service.
You can find statistics which under-rate or over-rate any cricketer, if you look hard enough. Fair enough while they're playing, but we're looking at the man as a whole here. I mean, Viv Richards and Ian Botham had hardly begun playing professional cricket, and were years away from Test matches, when they came under Close's influence. You can't put into numbers what Close gave to the game and those of us who followed it. |
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He played 22 test matches in 27 years. He scored 887 runs at 25 (highest score of 70) and took 18 wickets
lies damned lies and stats i know. But I would like to know how on earth you could contextualise the above stats in such a way that paints a picture of a good or even average test match player. They are terrible figures for someone who is so lionised up in yorkshire. |
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He's lionized up in Yorkshire (and down here in the West Country) for what he did for Yorkshire cricket and Somerset cricket. As he barely played for England, having been sacked for the whole prime of his career, nobody cares about how his Test stats compare.
Having said that, England still won 6 out of the 7 games he played as England captain before the sack. |
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Modern day players must be in awe at him facing the West Indies at 45 with no helmet.
Different class , RIP. |
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A distinct lack of respect from the usual suspects on this thread .
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sixtwosix:
like I say if he heard that a bunch of gamblaholic keyboard bashers were getting all teary eyed about his glittering career he'd prob tell the lot of you to fook off such was his unique "I call a spade a spade" wit. |
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Close's thought was that if you allowed a ball rising up into the body to hit you then there was virtually no chance of getting out. People tend to get out seeking to fend the ball in that region. Of course he didn't nut the bouncers.
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RIP
 Anyone who would go and bat against the like's of Holding and Roberts hurtling them down with no helmet at the age of 45 for your country is a cricket legend. Just watching the you tube clip has me wincing watching him duck and weave and coming off black and blue. |
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Worth remembering that when you watch that over from Holding in the present day, you know that Close walked away from it badly bruised, but alive.
In 1976 you didn't know that. It was genuinely disturbing viewing. |
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rob_dylan 14 Sep 15 15:32
He played 22 test matches in 27 years. He scored 887 runs at 25 (highest score of 70) and took 18 wickets. Let us just digest that for a minute. How about taking another five minutes & digesting his whole playing career. You started the thread but seem to take exception to anyone who held him in high regard  |
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He always does that with Brian. He wasn't even fkin born when he was playing.
I could undertand it on previous threads but on the day he died he still has to have a dig. What a fkin prik. |
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rogerthebutler
rogerthebutler 14 Sep 15 15:23 Joined: 01 Mar 03 | Topic/replies: 10,748 | Blogger: rogerthebutler's blog He might also call you a n1gg3r Because he was a bit of a blunt, plain-speaking old racist was our Brian Yet another one who lives in a leafy green suburb using the R word, ffs. |
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He just couldn't help himself, the pressure to promote his opinion of averageness was too overwhelming.
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Sorry Kenny
Forgot my right to an opinion on this ended the day I left Toxteth |
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His own statistics might be relatively modest in comparison to the game's greats, but two of those legends, Richards and Botham, hold him in very high regard. He had a massive impact on their burgeoning careers. Individual contributions in a team game are not just made up of numbers.
Also, Brian Close played to a low single figure handicap both left and right handed and apparently once went round in 76 playing alternate shots left and right. That's enough to command respect in my eyes. |