Brookes Dennis Image 1 Northamptonshire 1953

Kippax, Leeds, Yorkshire born right-handed opening batsman Dennis Brookes was spotted playing club cricket as a teenager, joining Northamptonshire in 1934, making his County Championship debut against Yorkshire that summer aged 18. At the time the team was very weak and failed to win a match for four years from May 1935, and ending at the bottom of the County Championship table for each year from 1934 to 1938, seven years in nine, and second bottom the other two times. Brookes quickly became a regular in the County team, but his career was interrupted by the Second World War, in which he served as a sergeant-instructor in the RAF.

His batting really developed, though, after the War and for the next ten years he was at, or near the top of, the national batting averages. He was unlucky not to play in more than one Test match for England, playing in the first Test on the 1947-48 tour of the West Indies at Bridgetown, Barbados in January 1948. His tour ended prematurely after he chipped a finger bone immediately after the first Test.

Northamptonshire’s fortunes revived in 1949, when Freddie Brown became County captain, and the team finished the season fifth in the County Championship. As senior professional, Brookes frequently stood in for Brown as captain in the early 1950’s. Brown retired in 1953, and Brookes took over, the first professional captain of the County. The team included Frank Tyson and Keith Andrew, and Australians Jock Livingston, Jack Manning and George Tribe, and enjoyed a successful period under his leadership, coming seventh in the County Championship in 1954 and 1955, fourth in 1956, and achieving its highest-ever placing, second, in 1957. Brookes was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1957, but he stood down as captain for 1958, replaced by Raman Subba Row, an amateur. He retired from first class cricket after the 1959 season, but captained The Players against The Gentlemen that year (his only appearance for the Players).

Brookes passed 1,000 runs in a season 17 times, and 2,000 runs six times. His highest score was 267, scored against Gloucestershire in 1949. He made 71 first class centuries, including one against each of the other 16 counties, and of those were six double centuries, also scoring 152 half centuries. He held many Northamptonshire records, including the most appearances (492), most career runs (28,980), most centuries (67) and most runs in a season (2,198 in 1952). In all 525 first class matches he scored 30,874 runs at an average of 36.10 and also took 3 wickets with his very occasional bowling, holding 205 catches.

He was later captain of the Northamptonshire second XI, a coach for Northamptonshire, and President of the Northamptonshire club from 1982 to 1985.

NB in the photograph he walks out to bat for Northamptonshire with Buddy Oldfield (left) in their match against Yorkshire at Headingley in June 1953.