Brian Close R.I.P.

Much has been written about Brian Close, a name which may not be remembered by the present generation of cricket fans. Admittedly his individual performances were not that impressive-no centuries or fivers in Tests. But he did provide effective leadership as captain in 1966-67 when the morale of England’s Test team was quite low. His captaincy record was 6 wins and a draw out of 7 Tests, probably surpassed only by one-offs like Ravi Shastri who won the only Test he captained. More than his statistical record, it was his typical Yorkshire doggedness which he is remembered for.

He remains the only England player to make his Test debut before his 19th birthday, being 18 year and 149 days old in his debut against New Zealand in 1949. He played his last Test 27 years later, in a career spanning four decades.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/10754.html

A little more about the circumstances in which he became captain. In 1966 the all-conquering West Indies team captained by Gary Sobers had won 3 of the first 4 Tests (two by an innings, another by over a hundred runs). When Close was pulled out of near-oblivion as captain, the 5th Test started predictably.

In reply to WI’s 268, England got to 166/7 with Close run out for single figures. Then followed one of the greatest tail-end recoveries in all Tests:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62995.html

Graveney and JT Murray put on 217 for the 8th wicket, while the no 10 and 11 (K Higgs and JA Snow) scored fifties apiece in a stand for 128 for the 10th wicket, bringing the total up to 527. Stung by this unexpected resistance, West Indies made 225 and lost by an innings and 34 runs.

In 1967, he oversaw a 3-0 sweep of India which had its moments in the first Test, remembered by Boycott being dropped for an over-cautious double century and Pataudi’s fightback of 64 and 148. India collapsed abjectly in the next two Tests. The only blemish of the summer was a draw against Pakistan, which Pakistan saved with some difficulty thanks mainly to Hanif Mohammed’s 187 not out.

It was equally typical of Close that he got into a quarrel with a spectator in a county match later in the season. This led to him losing the England captaincy as well as his exit from the team. It was thought that was the last international cricket had seen of him, until he was recalled to play 3 Tests against Clive Lloyd’s team of 1976. Here is a typical picture of that series (when helmets were not in common use).

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/image/632388.html?object=10754;dir=next

Bob Appleyard R.I.P.

In the midst of the heat and dust of the World Cup, it is easy to miss the passing of a relatively little-known English player of the 1950s. He had a rather traumatic childhood, but went on to be one of Yorkshire’s leading bowlers of his time. He played relatively few Tests, but played a major role in one of the major “negative” world records which his team inflicted on another.

Here is his writeup from Cricinfo:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/8554.html

This gives a good general idea of the difficulties he overcame, though it does not go much into his Test career. You can see that here:

He made his debut in the second test between England and Pakistan in 1954, in which he took his best figures of 5-51 which helped England to win by an innings. He missed the rest of the series but then played in 4 Ashes tests that winter, taking 11 wickets with Tyson wreaking havoc at the other end. His finest moment may have been the debacle of 26 all out in the tour of New Zealand that followed, where he was the main wicket taker with 4 for 7:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62788.html

Take a closer look at the innings:

Also note the even more startling bowling figures of his Yorkshire colleague Johnny Wardle. Other odd things you will see are that one batsman did cross double figures, though there was another instance of 30 all out in a Test when no batsman got into double figures.

(Not long ago Australia were 21/9 against Philander and Steyn and the long-standing record of 26 all out looked to be in danger. They finally staggered to 47).

After this Test his career petered out, but he remained a well known figure in Yorkshire cricket until his recent death at 90. R.I.P.