Brian Close: cricket’s hard man

Brian Close died in 2015 , aged 84 , which was miraculous.

He was a maniac on the roads sometimes brewing tea or studying racing form or napping at the wheel.

Most famously he put himself in harm’s way any time he could on the cricket field.

Close was also an excellent, ambidextrous golfer, nearly played for Arsenal and swam like an Olympian .

He refused to defer to the cricket hierarchy, swore continually and smoked 60 a day.

There are heaps of cracking anecdotes and I have not enjoyed a cricket book so much in years . One Hell of a Life: Brian Close : Daring, Defiant and Daft Stephen Chalke Fairfield , 240pp , 20 Purchasing a book may earn the NS a commission from Bookshop.org , who support independent bookshops [See also: A battle for the soul of English cricket].