Vale Brian Booth MBE

The ACA is greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Brian Booth.

Brian honed his game on a backyard, gravel-granite pitch, where he developed his strength hitting toward the off side so as to avoid the fibro-cement walls of the family home in Perthville, just south of Bathurst.

Brian’s talent and hard work would see him represent Australia in 29 Test matches between 1961 and 1966, scoring five centuries and captaining Australia on two occasions. He also played 183 games for New South Wales, scoring more than 11,000 runs. Brian’s talents were not limited to cricket, making the Australian hockey squad for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

But more than this, he was a man respected and admired throughout Australian cricket – a man who despite his incredible talent and success remained grounded with an abandonment of ego.

The renowned English journalist and author E.W. Swanton described Brian as “that model of a man who tends to be under-rated and forgotten because both he and his cricket were so blamelessly self-effacing”.

In retirement, Brian coached St George’s Cricket Club’s Green Shield (Under 16) team for 15 years, where he had a significant impact on Australian cricketer and ACA Board member, Moises Henriques, as well as recently retired Trent Copeland, also an ACA Board member, whose grandfather and uncles once played cricket against Brian in Bathurst. He was a great stalwart and loyal servant of the St George club. He will be sadly missed and always remembered by all who have played there.

ACA Chair Greg Dyer considered Brian a wonderful example of everything good in our game.

“Brian had a quiet confidence about him and was very well considered – he was a true gentleman, the personification of the qualities which every player should strive for. He remained very engaged in the game throughout his life and was a terrific supporter of the ACA, regularly attending our member events. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to listen and learn from Brian over the years. I can’t think of anyone more greatly admired and respected across the generations.”

The thoughts of all at the ACA are with his wife Judy and their daughters, as well as his many friends in Australian cricket.

May his memory be a blessing.