'A rare individual who'd put pain aside'

I believe Brian Close will always be sort of an iconic Yorkshire cricketer. He played for a long time for the club, he was captain of four championship winning teams, two Gillette Cups and I think that's what he'll be remembered for. People will say he's the youngest player ever to play for England at the age of 18, he went to Australia. It was not his batting or his bowling for which he'll be remembered. They built up over many years for Yorkshire, they weren't particularly special for England, but what was special were his captaincy and his legendary courage. His courage against Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith at Lord's and the courage against Michael Holding and the West Indies attack at Manchester when he was 45 years of age.

I saw at Yorkshire he would field very close to the bat. Remember, no helmets then, no protection so if he got hit it could be serious. And he did get hit from time to time, he caught many catches, he intimidated many batsmen without saying anything, just by his presence and he was good enough to catch many batsmen but he did get hit on the head, the legs. I've seen him go down twice, hit on the head and blood coming out of his head, everybody rushing to him and all he could say is, "Did you catch it?" In other words, "Did you catch it off me head?" and then one of them said no and he gave him a few swear words. One time the other guy did catch it off his head.

He was a rare individual that put pain to one side. He had this very strong mind over matter, and that's all it was. While he was playing, batting or fielding, if he was hurt by the ball, he would tell himself he wasn't hurt. And it was only when he'd come off the field and if you pushed the area where he got a bruise or something, he'd jump up and down and it would be painful just like the rest of us. But while he was playing he had this magical ability to just defray pain as if it wasn't there.

Then his captaincy was very good, he was very positive. I can't remember him ever being negative, it was all about winning, how do we get a win, take a risk and I learnt a lot by watching him and asking him questions. When I was in the dressing room as a young kid, I would ask him at lunch or tea or end of play, "Why did you only bowl Fred Trueman two overs?" And he'd give you a reason, maybe the pitch or something else and why did he switch so-and-so ends. And by asking questions and watching, and the answers I got, I learnt a lot about cricket. He'll be remembered for his captaincy and his courage.

I wasn't keen on [opening against] the Duke ball, I had been batting in 1963 most of the season down at No. 5 or 6 and sometimes behind Ray Illingworth, who was the offspinner but a very good batsman. And I was doing quite well, I gave up my job in the civil service and I had no contract, I just had match fees so I had to play well.

And it was at Scarborough actually and he just called me to one side after breakfast, I think it was early August, and said, "I want you to open." I said, "Ooh, no, no, no! I'm not interested. I'm all right where I am, at 5 and 6, I'm doing all right." But he said, "Well, I think you'll make a good opener," and I told him I was not keen. He said: "Well, you've got two choices, you can either open or do 12th man." I said, "You can't do that." He said, "I can, I'm captain." So I had no choice. I made 68, I think, and 28 and we won the match against Warwickshire. Then the very next match I went to the big Roses game at Old Trafford, which was huge for Yorkshire then - full houses, 25,000-30,000, people stood. And I got a hundred, so next year I opened for Yorkshire for about five weeks and then I was playing for England. So I think he got it right.

I didn't know him particularly as a human being, I knew him as a person in the dressing room as a human being. In the dressing room, that's what I want to remember him by, because he was a very fine cricketer.