Brian Close - an inspiring Yorkshire figure
Michael Vaughan narrates how Brian Close's offbeat guidance helped him improve his game and what an inspiring figure he was
ESPNcricinfo staff
14-Sep-2015
Michael Vaughan, writing for the Telegraph, describes the occasions when he had met Brian Close and the invaluable advice offered by him. Close, who also played for Yorkshire, 'was very good at being able to communicate to different characters.'
I remember one specific training session when I was struggling with an LBW problem. He said the only way I would learn is to use my bat and not my pad. He asked for my bat and gloves. I told him they were right handed gloves (he was a left-hander) but he did not care and he went into the net at the age of 60 wearing no pads on his legs. He said: "Bat without pads, son, because that way you learn to hit the ball. If you don't then you soon end up with a broken knee cap." In a way, it did work.
He would also watch nets and ask: "Why are you lads ducking and weaving?" He would say: "Let the ball hit you. It is only a bruise. Bruises disappear but when you are out it is over. You might not bat again for a week."
Vic Marks, writing for the Guardian, recalls the impact Brian Close had on the youngsters during his captaincy tenure besides lauding his indomitable courage.
Yes, Closey was my first county captain. He made an immediate impact upon me at Somerset; it may have taken a little longer for me to impact upon him. Unwittingly Close had an enormous impact on all of the youngsters at Taunton, but most significantly on the young Ian Botham and Viv Richards. Talk to this be-knighted pair now and they will happily sing his praises into the early hours.
In 1963 he had stunned everyone at Lord's by advancing down the pitch to a bewildered Wes Hall in a riveting England run-chase. In 1976 his resistance was a little more passive. There he was midway through his fifth decade with nothing but a pair of pads and a flimsy thigh pad to protect himself against the most devastating pace attack of the modern era.