Brian Close

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Close's 1st first-class season

Close's first first-class games for Yorkshire in the 1949 season were against Cambridge http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1940S/1949/ENG_LOCAL/UNIV/CAMB-UNIV_YORKS_UNIV_11-13MAY1949.html and then Oxford University. http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1940S/1949/ENG_LOCAL/UNIV/OX-UNIV_YORKS_UNIV_14-17MAY1949.html Close acquitted himself well, although his 8 wickets against Oxford were not enough to prevent Oxford winning by 69 runs. After these games, he continued to impress, particularly as a bowler: in his fifth first-class game, against Essex, http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1940S/1949/ENG_LOCAL/CC/YORKS_ESSEX_CC_25-27MAY1949.html Close took 5 for 58 in Essex's first innings, and top-scored with an undefeated 88. His perfomances for Yorkshire earned him a place in the North v South Test trial. However, he underperformed in that game taking no wickets and scoring only 2 runs.http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1940S/1949/ENG_LOCAL/OTHERS/N-ENG_S-ENG_01-03JUN1949.html

Related Topics:
First-class - 1949 - Cambridge - Oxford University - Wicket - Bowler - Essex

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Close continued to do well for Yorkshire and was selected for the Players against the Gentlemen.http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1940S/1949/ENG_LOCAL/OTHERS/GENTLEMEN_PLAYERS_13-15JUL1949.html At that time class status was still important: professionals, known as Players, were expected to show deference to the amateurs, who were the Gentlemen. Gentlemen did not share changing rooms with Players, and cricket scorecards would differentiate between the two of them, with the names of Gentlemen being prefixed "Mr", the names of the professionals being styled by their surnames and then their initials. This was a time when it was considered necessary to announce on the tannoy errors such as "for F.J. Titmus read Titmus, F.J.".

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Close did well for the Players and top-scored with 65. When he reached his fifty, he was congratulated by the Gentlemen's wicket-keeper, Billy Griffith, and in a conversation that now seems innocuous, Grifftith congratulated Close by saying, "Well played, Brian", with Close replying, "Thank you, Billy". However, Close had not referred to Griffith as "Mister", and ten days later was called to see Brian Sellers, a former captain and member of the Yorkshire committee, who reprimanded Close for the effrontery.

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At the same time, Close had been selected for the third three-day Test match at Old Trafford against the touring New Zealand cricket team;http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1940S/1949/NZ_IN_ENG/NZ_ENG_T3_23-26JUL1949.html in this game, Close became, and as of 2005 remains, England's youngest-ever Test player, being aged just 18 years and 149 days when he played against New Zealand. He came in when England needed quick runs, with the instruction from Freddie Brown, the captain, being to "have a look at a couple and then give it a go". Close played two balls back to the bowler, then hit out for the boundary, only to be caught just short, one-handed, for a duck.

Related Topics:
Test match - Old Trafford - New Zealand cricket team - As of 2005 - England's - Freddie Brown - Bowler - Boundary

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Overall, Close's first season must be seen as a resounding success. He played his first Test, and as of 2005 remains the youngest player to have achieved the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a first-class season, and the only player to have achieved this double in his first season as a first-class player. This first season set the flavour of the remainder of Close's career: times of notable success, tarnished by many run-ins with officialdom, and with Sellers in particular. Close himself felt that the Test call-up was an albatross round his neck. He was always referred to as England's youngest player, always with a suggestion of unfulfilled promise.

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