Brian Close: English Cricket's Gladiator

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; hailed by the press as the "biggest discovery of post-war cricket". John Edrich said "watching him play made you proud to be an Englishman". But others found it hard to deal with Close's attitude, and he was dogged by bad luck - or bad management - throughout a career that became a sequence of triumphs and disasters. An instinctive and masterful player and strategist, he took Yorkshire on a meteoric ascents 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 one of the most controversial personalities in English cricket's recent history.