Brian Eno | Brian Mulroney | Brian May | Brian Wilson | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | Brian Ferneyhough | Chuck Close | Hugh O'Brian | Glenn Close | Brian Williams | Brian Stableford | Brian Aldiss | Brian | What About Brian | Brian Clough | Brian Stokes Mitchell | Brian Lara | Brian De Palma | Brian Dennehy | Brian Michael Bendis | Brian Lenihan | Brian Cox | Brian Boru | Patrick O'Brian | Brian Setzer | Brian McKnight | Brian Evenson | Brian Culbertson | Brian Cox (actor) | Brian Aherne |
In his pieces he coined the descriptions "the Sage of Longparish" for his colleague John Woodcock, "the Demon of Frome" for Colin Dredge of Somerset, the Old Bald Blighter (the OBB) for Brian Close and "the Shoreditch Sparrow" for Robin Jackman.
For example, in the 1951 match against the touring South Africans the side included Brian Close, who had already played for England, and Jim Parks, Fred Titmus and Alan Moss, who would all go on to do so.
In those days there were no sanctions against cricketers who visited South Africa, and Robins' teams included players of high quality, including such names as Bob Willis, Brian Close, Tony Greig and Trevor Chappell.
The first Test he umpired was the controversial Test at Old Trafford in 1976 when England's batsmen John Edrich and Brian Close were subject to a bouncer barrage from the West Indian Quicks.
Further matches were played in the 1976 and 1978 seasons, but the festival then lapsed for a few years and when it was revived in the 1980s, the scratch side was first organised (and sometimes led) by Brian Close and then by the TV personality Michael Parkinson.