With his tenth ball in Test cricket, Simon Brown trapped Pakistan opener Aamer Sohail lbw and all seemed set fair. But that Test at Lord's in 1996 was Brown's first and last, and England supporters were given another fleeting glimpse of what might have been. Brown says: "I would have liked more caps, of course, but look what happened to other left-armers like Mike Smith of Gloucestershire - one cap and then that's it. Don't know why really."

Tall and thin, "Chubby" Brown started his career at Northamptonshire in 1987, but struggled to hold down a regular first-team place in competition with the likes of Curtley Ambrose, Winston Davis, Greg Thomas and David Capel. He moved home to Durham in 1991 and the county achieved first-class status the following year. Brown proved a consistent wicket-taker for England's youngest county side but perhaps paid the penalty, certainly in the county's early years, for having to carry an attack comprising novices and ageing veterans. Often his form would slip towards the end of the season as the summer's workload took its toll. Those injuries became more frequent after he passed 30, and he slowly drifted out of the game at a relatively young age.
Graham Holburn