Brian Close

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Brian Close was the wonder boy of English cricket: the youngest ever Test debutant aged 18, a record he still holds; captain of Yorkshire, Somerset and England; and hailed by the press as "the biggest discovery in post-war cricket". But others found it hard to deal with Close's attitude, and he was dogged by bad luck - or bad management - throughout his career that became an astonishing sequence of triumphs and disasters. An instinctive and masterful player and strategist, he took Yorkshire on a meteoric ascent to success, but catastrophe was not far behind. Elevated to the national captaincy, it was all swept away by the infamous "timewasting" incident - but he returned to glory against the mighty West Indians. Refusing to wear a helmet, body armour or even gloves against the fiercest bowling, Close has always fought on, earning himself a permanent place in the annals of the game. Alan Hill has talked to Close himself, his friends and family, colleagues and critics in creating this account of this most controversial personality in English cricket's recent history