This page contains Romany members' memories of and tributes to Peter Brayshay, who died on 6 July, 2004.
All those who were privileged to know him will be saddened by Peter's death. Our love to his wife, Mickey, and their three daughters.
Peter progressed the family wholesale carpet business during his working life, and upon his retirement the business was sold and continues to trade as "Brayshays".
Peter was in full flight bowling for the Romany when John Baldwin introduced me to the club in the late fifties. It was clear to all those who played both with him and against him that his ability as a bowler far exceeded that possessed by everyone else. He was a great thinker and student of the game. I was at Peter's house only a few years ago when he produced a 'paper' written by him and (probably) after he had just completed the Times crossword in 7 minutes. The writing described a variety of techniques which a bowler could employ to more easily dismiss the batsman. I reflected that had I read the paper in my youth I may have scored a lot more runs.
Peter was a great friend of Peter Kippax, who was also an outstanding cricketer. Without research I cannot confirm the number of times either or both represented Yorkshire, but am sure that they did turn out in a representative capacity. They certainly both played Yorkshire League over many years when Leeds played at Headingley. For reasons never divulged by Peter, he always left matches immediately following conclusion of the game. I never remember him staying for a drink. I was to reflect upon the wisdom of his ways following my departure from the road whilst returning from the West Tanfield game.
Always thoughtful and the epitome of an English gentleman Peter had a sharp mind and a wit to accompany it. How sad that there are few left in any sport whose standards both on and off the field compare with those held by Peter.
Thanks Charles. I certainly have many very happy memories of playing with Peter, and as Charles says, none of him in the bar afterwards. Whilst many will never have met me, I played for Romany frequently from the early 1960s until the early 1980s and learned almost all I ever knew about bowling ("not much lad" I can hear a few Romany and North Leeds voices muttering into their pints!) from Peter.
Some elderly Romany citizens, including some still playing, will remember that I used to bowl a 25-yarder, which Peter taught me how to bowl. He always had time and the inclination to help young players and he was always worth listening to. His batting skills were more hidden, and he occupied the number 11 spot more often than most! He also fielded at first slip much of the time and caught some very good catches.
It was really Peter Kippax's father, Horace, who Peter B was great friends with. Sunday-morning nets at Johnny Lawrence's Cricket School took place for many years with Peter, Horace, Charles Hartley, and Bowen Roberts (another former Romany stalwart) amongst others. They were always entertaining and were followed by a drink at Peter's house in Park Crescent in Roundhay.
Peter was always very self-effacing and one would never have known that he had played for the County. The world will be a poorer place without him.
I have read David Richardson's e mail with great interest but would like to make 2 comments:
Jo and I called at his old home in Bardsey just before he moved to look at some rugs. We went home with 5!! Jo had known Peter for many years without speaking to him for any length of time but afterwards she just said, "What a lovely man." He was. A sort of gentle giant. Hopefully he will be opening the bowling somewhere else now.
I have known Peter all my life, or at least since I started watching my father play cricket, which comes to the same thing.
He was a tall, lean imposing figure dressed immaculately in creased whites, I think he wore his England badminton sweater and what appeared to me to be an enormous pair of white boots. His bowling style was distinctive, involving a hop before the delivery stride with both arms aloft - at this moment I can feel a missive being sent from above setting out that (a) his action was perfectly orthodox, and (b) it was far more effective than the modern actions of supposed fast bowlers.
He opened the bowling with a short, for him, spell of 10 or so overs (on the subject of which, he was scathing about present day 'fast bowlers' who complain of being overbowled - he regularly bowled 20+ fast overs a day while serving with the army during and after the war in India, in searing heat), took a few wickets and would return later to finish off the opposition if they showed any sign of winning the match. He regularly took 5 wickets, most "c. Bosomworth", due to the excellence of his outswing [present Romany members should curb their disbelief at the recipient of the catch, the latter being my father]. He never took more than 9 wickets in an innings for Romany (9-31 vs. Sheriff Hutton 1972), was the regular leading wicket taker and would have held the dismissals record were it not for the increase in fixtures which allowed Richardson and Hockin to surpass him. The real skill of his bowling was his intelligence. He quickly sized up a batsman's weakness and bowled to it. Even in his 80's in the nets when he was reduced to bowling gentle 'throwdowns', he always put the ball precisely where you didn't like it - even to 'proper' batsmen.
He once topped the Romany batting averages with an average of over 60, unusually because in that season he'd actually been dismissed once.
As Charles (of whom he once said, he would be a good cricketer if he didn't try to hit the cover off every ball - mind you Billy Sutcliffe was a good cricketer in Peter's eyes and Geoffrey Boycott a quite good one) says, he never went to the pub after the game but I think I should clear up the mystery. Peter was devoted to sport and spent much of his life playing it (as well as watching Leeds RL). But he was also a devoted father and husband. It was an unspoken bargain with Mickey that as he spent so much time playing cricket, the least he could do was return home straight after the game, hence his absence from the pub. In any event, Peter hated crowds and noise. He preferred a small social gathering where he could engage in sensible conversation rather than pointless small talk.
Peter was blessed with daughters, which had the slight disadvantage that none of his offspring were eligible to play for Yorkshire CCC (which is not to say that they couldn't play cricket - as I found when they outperformed me {OK, that wasn't too difficult} in countless informal contests around Romany games). Indeed I seem to recall that Carol and, I think, Hazel were constrained to return to Yorkshire in the latter stages of their confinement so that the next generation of Brayshays were eligible to play for the county. Alas, by the time a suitable male Brayshay had been produced to follow in his grandfather's footsteps, the qualification had been removed - much to Peter's disgust.
He did much to encourage young cricketers in whom he spotted a talent for the game, and would introduce them to Leeds and indeed Romany in the hope (perhaps forlornly in the latter case) that it would improve their game. My brother was one such. That is not to say that he had no time for the less talented, as evidenced by his support for Romany. In his teens, Mark was invited to attend Sunday nets at Rothwell. As his 'taxi' driver, I thought I would join in. Unbeknown to me complaint was made to Peter of the presence of such an untalented cricketer. The next Sunday, Peter took the trouble to take me to one side to ask me if I would like to attend regularly to bowl 'my floaters'. Only years later did I learn the context of the invitation. Its kindness was typical of the man.
Peter continued to play for Romany even into his sixties. Steve Throup maintains that he finally gave up bowling for Romany after one delivery hit the square leg umpire on the knee - a story that I can't help feeling was more likely to have occurred to Throup than Brayshay - causing him to retreat to the nets to remodel his action. He would still turn out, however, if we were short (rather as George Hodson was later to do - it was a shame that the two never played together for Romany: the sight of George standing up to the stumps to Peter in his prime would have been a sight to behold). On one such occasion, I think against the Druids at Malsis, Mark having fielded the ball off his own bowling, angered by the batsman's temerity to have hit it, hurled the ball at the wicketkeeper (me). The ball narrowly missed the batsman and was heading for Peter's knee at first slip before I managed to get a glove to it, deflecting the ball to the third-man boundary. Peter was quite unperturbed, merely commenting somewhat drily that the younger Bosomworth seamed intent on finding novel ways of conceding boundaries off his own bowling, an effort which seamed somewhat unnecessary. A couple of overs later, once the red mist had cleared, Mark was taken to one side by Peter and the etiquette of cricket was quietly and politely explained.
Peter continued to support the club and usually came to the YG's game. When I was captain and the Club was going through particularly hard times, he even offered through my mother to stand on the pitch to make up numbers, despite being well into his 70's - an offer I declined for fear of embarrassing not only Peter but myself.
The Club has been privileged to have been graced by the presence of a great cricketer and an extraordinary man. I fear we will not see the like of him again.
I first met Peter at a Romany match some thirty or so years ago, and as a result had never seen him "in his pomp", as the saying goes. However, from what I heard from others, from the discussions we had on the art of bowling, and from his very physique, I have little doubt that he must have been a pretty formidable opponent.
Despite the fact that he had played cricket at a level way above that ever attained by his fellow Romany players, this fact was never thrown in your face.
Peter always volunteered advice in his quiet, gentlemanly fashion. There was nothing more likely to give this seam bowler of fragile temperament a boost to the morale than seeing a wry smile from the direction of the slips on those (rare) occasions when a delivery came out 'right', and caused the batsman some discomfiture.
I remember the last 'real' game of Romany cricket (if that's not a contradiction in terms) in which Peter played. I am fairly certain that the venue was St George's, Harewood. Early on Peter bowled a delivery which frankly presented a greater threat to the square leg umpire than to the batsman. Now to many, and to the writer in particular, this sort of horror falls in as part of the journeyman seamer's lot in life, occasionally counter-balanced by those days when it all goes wonderfully right, and those other days when, at least, nothing goes horribly wrong.
However, to such as Peter, who had played on a much higher plane, this was too much. His face said it all, and he collected his sweater without completing the offending over.... and that was it.
It came as no small surprise to me to be invited, not long afterwards, to take part in the Sunday morning winter nets at Lordswood. Given the cricketing pedigree of some of those taking part, I felt some degree of trepidation. I need not have worried, of course. The convivial air of this gathering dispelled any tension, and I discovered that Peter, having remodelled his bowling style, had rediscovered the art of putting the ball on the precise spot that the batsman didn't want it to be.
Of course, discussion, banter and conversation were of equal, if not greater, importance than the net - which makes for the uniqueness of this particular assembly.
Who could ever forget the sight of Peter bowling in his fur-trapper hat in the thick of winter, or the look on his face when a woman (for God's sake) walked onto the hallowed boards of the net.
When Peter felt that the Sunday net was proving too much for him, he handed the reins over to me. The reason for this choice was, is, and will probably always remain a complete mystery. I feel honoured to have been chosen - but in any event, despite ongoing changes in personnel, it will always remain "Peter's net".
He will be greatly missed by all those who knew him.