Wisden overview
More stories have been told about Brian Close, or to be precise his eccentricities, than probably any postwar cricketer except maybe his fellow-Yorkshireman Fred Trueman. Close's courage, batting against the fastest bowling or fielding at short leg, was legendary. Seemingly impervious to pain himself, he used to say to anyone who flinched, or rubbed a bruise: "How can the ball hurt you? It's only on you for a second." On the one known occasion when he was hit by such force that he was knocked off his feet – by a short-arm pull by Hampshire's Danny Livingstone at Portsmouth – Close, sprang up and dismissed the slips and wicketkeeper (who were running towards him in concern) with an angry wave. Because he always tried to play the type of innings he considered the position of the match required, Close's record did scant justice to his talent, which was huge. He was a notably unselfish cricketer, a factor in the respect he won as Yorkshire, Somerset, and briefly, England captain, and the success his teams enjoyed. He was as stubborn as he was unselfish, however, and invariably found a pretext for a dismissal through some outlandish stroke. One from which the Yorkshire dressing-room derived most pleasure came when he was caught off a snow-gathering top-edge as he tried to pull John Price, the Middlesex fast bowler, into the Warner Stand at Lord's: "I had it covered for everything but uneven bounce," was Close's indignant explanation. John Thicknesse

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