Reviewed by Steve Cowton (The White Rose Forum bibliophile)
Brian Close – Cricket’s Lionheart
Alan Hill
Published by Methuen 2003
Alan Hill is one of our most reliable and prolific cricket writers. He seems to specialise in Biographies and has wisely chosen to concentrate on great players from Yorkshire’s glorious history – previous work has included portraits of Hedley Verity, Herbert Sutcliffe and Johnny Wardle. His books tend to be concise and business-like, carefully written and reliable sources of information but perhaps rather light on opinion and interpretation.
In turning his attention to Brian Close he has chosen to tackle one of the most charismatic and intriguing figures in Yorkshire cricket over the last fifty years. His first class career spanned an incredible 37 years – making his debut against Cambridge at Fenners in 1949 and finally leaving the crease at a Scarborough Festival game against New Zealand in 1986. In a remarkable roller coaster career he successively captained Yorkshire, England and Somerset, scored almost 35,000 runs and took 1171 wickets at an average of only 26. He captained England on seven occasions and was never defeated – registering six victories and one draw. There must be very few professional cricketers who can claim to have played alongside Johnny Wardle and Leonard Hutton at the beginning of their career and gone on to captain such latterday knights of the realm as Ian Botham and Vivian Richards. His career – like no other player – seems to bridge the gap between the monochrome glory days of the 1950’s and coloured clothing one day era of the Seventies.
Born into a cricketing family in Rawdon in 1931 he was a prodigiously talented young sportsman. He played football for Leeds United at representative level and could have pursued a career in professional soccer had not early injury persuaded him that cricket was likely to be a more successful option. He remains a highly competitive sportsman to this day – playing golf (until recently) off a low handicap both right and left handed, and being a good enough snooker player to beat the great Joe Davis. He enjoyed a meteoric rise to cricketing fame – making his International debut barely three months after his Yorkshire debut and earning his full Yorkshire cap later during his first season.
He burst onto the cricket scene with a series of remarkable performances that looked set to establish him as one of the truly great all rounders of all time, and yet while he enjoyed a long and successful career, he never quite achieved the level of success of which many people considered him to be capable. Alan Hill suggests that this is partly due to Close’s disastrous experience as part of the England party touring Australia during the Winter of 1950/51. There is no doubt that the young Close suffered a terribly unhappy time; selected for an arduous and lengthy tour as a hugely enthusiastic but inexperienced 19 yr old who had never been abroad, Close found himself isolated and alone among an unhappy and divided touring party. Captain Freddie Brown was an old school amateur who had little time for his young professional, and even his Yorkshire colleague Leonard Hutton was unable to offer the support or guidance the young man needed. As a young man Close didn’t smoke or drink – he found himself alone and ostracised by the rest of the team, and a persistent injury led to poor performances and increasingly hostile treatment from his impatient colleagues. Alan Hill quotes Jim Kilburn, “In a world of men the boy had to assume a cloak of confidence that was bound to prove threadbare in the cold winds of criticism”. Hill tries to argue that much of the bluster and obstinacy of Close’s later career was a result of his unhappy time on his first overseas tour; the naïve but precociously talented and naturally gifted young player became embittered and cynical in order to survive in the austere world of professional sportsmen.
It’s an attractive argument but I’m not sure it’s wholly convincing. One of the strengths of Hill’s biographies is his obvious affection and admiration for his subjects – he remains first and foremost an admirer and fan. He has clearly enjoyed the help and support of Close and his family in preparing this book, but I wonder whether a more objective view point might have served him better in this instance. Was Close’s domineering and arrogant personality shaped by the treatment he received – or was he treated in this way because of his personality? The answer I suspect lies somewhere between the two.
It is undeniable that his career has been marked by a series of disputes and controversies with virtually everyone around him – colleagues, journalists, International selectors and County committee men. The author tries to record each fresh controversy with fairness and objectivity but it is hard to avoid the conclusion that there is another story waiting to be told by a less friendly biographer. At what point does a forceful personality become a simple bully. We follow Close’s career from one controversy to the next – his deselection as England Captain, sacking from the Yorkshire team – but it is difficult not to escape the feeling that we are only being told one side of every episode.
There is none the less much to admire about Close. He was an extraordinary leader – while his performances with bat and ball remained consistent - his influence as captain was enormous. He had a profound tactical understanding of the game and was able to bring out the very best in those players who shared his approach – he played a huge part in shaping the approach of the young Botham and making him one of the greatest players of our time. Botham provides the foreword to this book and is exceptionally generous in acknowledging the debt he owed his Somerset captain.
He was an exceptional fielder and a fearless batsman. He could impose his will on any game by simply positioning himself almost suicidally close at short leg. Recalled to the England team in 1976 after a gap of 9 years since his last England appearance, and at the age of almost 45, he single-handedly faced the ferocious onslaught of the West Indies pace attack at the height of their powers - taking numerous blows on his largely undefended body, and inspiring an England revival from the most desperate of situations. This episode provided a hugely admirable swansong to his lengthy career – for once providing the context in which his fearless uncompromising approach was entirely appropriate – and enabling him to bask (however briefly) in the unaccustomed role of national hero.
This is an immensely enjoyable book, factual and informative with enough anecdotal colour to maintain interest, and yet Close remains something of an enigma. Controversy followed his career and he seems to have maintained few close friendships – other than Ray Illingworth who remains the only comparable figure in Yorkshire’s recent history. In recent times he has seemed strangely anachronistic – railing against one day cricket and arguing for a return to the days of uncovered pitches. Unlike Trueman – who made his first class debut in the same season – Close inspires respect but apparently little genuine affection. There is a sense of unfulfilled potential about his career – the true greatness that was just beyond reach because of the flaws in his personality. Given the objectivity of time and distance, there remains a great book to be written about the life and career of DB Close: until that book is written, this is an entertaining prequel.
