It was entirely typical that Dougie Brown's playing career at Warwickshire should end with him requiring carrying off the pitch. Never one to quit, never one to know when he was beaten, Brown - desperate to prove himself one more time after falling from favour during Mark Greatbatch's ill-fated reign at the club - suffered a serious Achilles tendon injury in the field during a T20 match against Northants and was carried from the field for the last time only when it became obvious that there was simply no other choice. It was the only way it could have ended and the final act of an outstanding county career.

Brown had first come to Warwickshire's attention as a fast bowler. Juggling his work as a PE teacher with his commitments as a cricketer with Scotland, it was far from unusual for Brown to travel overnight from his home in Stirling to undertake a trial or play a match, before making the long journey home the following night. Hard work was never an impediment for Brown. A junior player in Warwickshire's treble-winning season of 1994, he contributed more often in 1995 and then remained a key player for more than a decade. He was the leading wicket-taker in the country in 1997, exceeded 1,000 first-class runs in 2003 and averaged over 50 in 2004, the year his bowling played a huge role in Warwickshire's Championship success. With more than 500 first-class wickets and a batting average over 30, he was one of the leading all-rounders in domestic cricket for almost 10 years. His obvious commitment and determination made him a firm favourite at Edgbaston.

He also enjoyed success at international level. In Sharjah in 1997, in the second of his nine ODIs for England, he bowled Philo Wallace with the first ball of the match and had Brian Lara leg before with the third. England, led by Adam Hollioake, went on to win the tournament.

When England dispended of him, he represented Scotland in a further 16 ODIs and two T20Is. Already 36 before he made his international debut for the country of his birth, Brown still contributed in the 2007 Caribbean World Cup and the World T20 in South Africa later that year. He played one List A game (it was not an international) for Namibia, too, and coached them at the 2003 World Cup.

He continued to play wholeheartedly for Barnt Green in the Birmingham League until the end of 2012, but coaching was quickly becoming more important to Brown. Appointed as Academy coach at Edgbaston when his old friend Ashley Giles was appointed as director of cricket in 2009, Brown was promoted to assistant coach and then to director of cricket ahead of the 2013 season when Giles moved on to England. Warwickshire subsequently won the NatWest T20 Blast under Brown in 2014 and finished as runners-up in both the other competitions.

Despite another trophy - the Royal London One Day Cup - in 2016, Brown was sacked by Warwickshire at the end of the season and replaced by his old friend, Giles. Brown was subsequently named as UAE coach in early 2017.

Brown is also a former PCA chairman and accomplished media pundit.
George Dobell