|
Dennis Brian Close, CBE (24 February 1931 – 13 September 2015) was an English cricketer, the youngest man ever to play Test cricket for England. He was picked to play against New Zealand in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England, captaining them seven times (six wins, one draw). Close also captained Yorkshire to four county championship titles – the main domestic trophy in English cricket. He later went on to captain Somerset, where he is widely credited with developing the county into a hard-playing team, and helping to mould Viv Richards and Ian Botham into the successful players they became. Throughout his cricket career, which lasted from 1948 until the 1977 season, Close was one of the most charismatic and well-known cricketers. He scored almost 35,000 runs as a batsman, including 52 centuries with a highest innings score of 198. He also took 1,168 dismissals as a bowler, and over 800 catches as a fielder (and one stumping, as a stand-in wicket-keeper). At just over six feet (1.83 m) tall he was a noticeable presence on the field, often fielding at the short leg position, close to the batsman. As cricketers did not use head or body protection in Close's day, he would often get hurt when a batsman struck a ball that hit him. Close was also noted, as a batsman, for standing up to intimidatory bowling, letting the ball hit his unprotected torso rather than flinching. Close was known as a cricketing gambler; he was prepared to take risks and to court controversy throughout his career. He was serving a "confined to barracks" punishment during his military service when selected for his first international cricket tour to Australia in 1950, was sacked as England captain for timewasting, and later sacked by Yorkshire for his lukewarm attitude to one-day cricket. He was also accused of not giving enough support to younger Yorkshire cricketers. He attracted further criticism by touring apartheid South Africa and white-minority-controlled Rhodesia with private teams. As chairman of Yorkshire's cricket subcommittee he had many run-ins with the then Yorkshire captain, Geoffrey Boycott. However, he continued to serve Yorkshire cricket, and in his seventies was coaching and occasionally captaining the county's Colts XI. ==Early years== Close was born into a working class family in Town Street, Rawdon, West Riding of Yorkshire, on 24 February 1931. His parents were Harry, a weaver, and Esther (''née'' Barrett). He was the second eldest of five boys and a girl. The family lived in a series of council houses in Rawdon, Guiseley and Yeadon. Although these houses were small, they each had a back yard, where the young Brian could practise cricket with his father. Harry Close was himself a keen cricketer, who kept wicket and was a big hitter in the Bradford Cricket League, although he never attained the standard of the Yorkshire county team.〔Hill (2003), p. 12.〕 The hero and dominating figure in Close's home town of Rawdon was Hedley Verity, a great England and Yorkshire cricketer in the period before the Second World War. The Verity family continued to live in Rawdon, and at Rawdon Littlemoor Primary School, Close was taught by Grace Verity, Hedley's sister, and he was friends with two of Verity's children, Wilfred and Douglas. Later, Close went to Aireborough Grammar School, where Verity was the best-known alumnus. Close's early years were surrounded by images of local cricketing greatness.〔Hill (2003), pp. 12–14.〕 At school, Close was a good all-around sportsman, and an excellent cricketer: Aireborough went unbeaten in the six cricketing summers while Close was there. Close dominated junior level cricket in the area, both within and outside schools. He joined Rawdon Cricket Club in 1942, when he was eleven years of age, and was almost immediately selected to play for the under-18 side and for the Second XI.〔Rawdon Cricket Club ''"Jack Lees Memorial Match" programme'', 7 September 2003.〕 However, he also excelled as a pupil, and seriously considered becoming a doctor. His headmaster at Aireborough believed that he could have been accepted into Cambridge or Oxford universities had he not opted to become a professional sportsman.〔Hill (2003), pp. 12–15.〕 As well as cricket, Close was also proficient at football, to such an extent that he was signed as an amateur by Leeds United. He became the first Leeds player to play international football at youth level, when in October 1948 he played for England against Scotland at Pittodrie Park in Aberdeen.〔Hill (2003), p. 22.〕 However, after gaining a regular place in Yorkshire's county side in 1949, his sporting ambitions became more focused on cricket, although he was also signed as a footballer by Arsenal and later Bradford City, where he played six Football League matches, scoring two goals. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brian Close」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|