Lives in Cricket No 47 - Brian Sellers

61 Off the field a young man to be cricket-mad and teetotal? Why did Boycott not accept a half, just to be social? Or perhaps the tragedy was cultural, and everyone’s fault; that men (and never mind women) could not have a good time in a pub unless they boozed. Sellers could be a more thoughtful host. The Surrey captain Errol Holmes in his memoir, Flannelled Foolishness , described Sellers as ‘a typical Yorkshire man with sparking wit and yet iron determination’: He shook me warmly by the hand, told me that he was glad to see me, and that Yorkshire were out to give Surrey a good walloping and then announced that I was staying with him for the match. That evening I met his delightful wife Bright and had Sunday lunch next day; I had Yorkshire pudding as only they can make it and serve it in Yorkshire on a plate by itself and covered with gravy. Whereas Sellers left so many traces to do with cricket, he left little about his home and his life outside cricket. That cannot have been accidental; it was none of our business. An exception is his wedding, in October 1932. George Macaulay, Wilf Barber, Arthur Wood and the bowlers Frank Dennis and Arthur Rhodes and scorer William Ringrose attended the ceremony at Saltaire Methodist Church; Sutcliffe, Leyland, Bowes and Verity on their way to bodyline sent a telegram. The bride, the daughter of a Bradford chartered accountant, was Bessie Walker: ‘He called her Bright-eyes,’ their daughter-in-law Anne Sellers recalled. Brian Sellers and Bessie Walker, before their wedding.