Author Description

Brian Close was the wonder boy of English cricket: the youngest ever Test debutant aged 18, a record he still holds; captain of Yorkshire, Somerset and England; and hailed by the press as the biggest discovery in post-war cricket. But others found it hard to deal with Close's attitude, and he was dogged by bad luck - or bad management - throughout his career that became an astonishing sequence of triumphs and disasters. An instinctive and masterful player and strategist, he took Yorkshire on a meteoric ascents to success, but catastrophe was not far behind. Elevated to the national captaincy, it was all swept away by the infamous timewasting incident - but he returned to glory against the mighty West Indians. Refusing to wear a helmet, body armour or even gloves against the fiercest bowling, Close has always fought on, earning himself a permanent place in the annals of the game.