Farewell Dennis Breakwell, Somerset stalwart and mentor to generations of cricketers

Away from the bright lights and the hungry eye of television, cricket unfolds as it has always done, with a quiet welcoming handshake across the generations. Dennis Breakwell was the quintessence of that.Breakwell died this week at the age of 78, after a 15-year career as a slow left-arm bowler at Northamptonshire and Somerset, and more than 20 years as a groundsman and coach at King’s College Taunton. There he cut the grass, watched, and became a touchstone for generations of young cricketers passing through the school, including Jos Buttler.“I first came across him when I was playing for Somerset in the under-12s,” says Buttler, who is at home recovering from an injury that has kept him out of England’s white-ball tour to Australia. “He was doing the grounds at King’s College and the school would host county weeks throughout the summer holidays. I joined King’s a couple of years later on a cricket scholarship, and he was someone I met again when being shown around, the heartbeat of the school.“I saw a quote of him talking to Richard Walsh about me, he said he didn’t really coach me but talked to me, which is what I remember most. We talked about cricket and all sorts of stuff, he’d bowl at me, set up a net at lunchtime and have a wicket ready – this wasn’t just for me but for everyone.Dennis Breakwell played for Northants and then Somerset in a 15-year county career. Photograph: Evening Standard/Getty Images“I played golf with him, went fishing with him. He just had a love of life. I can hear him coming now, his laugh and a ‘hello son’, he had an amazing way with him. He made you feel comfortable. He had such knowledge and I loved his old stories of playing with Ian Botham and Viv Richards, he was awesome. It’s very sad he’s passed away, you wish you’d got a chance to spend more time with him.”Breakwell spent his early years at Wantage Road, joining Northants at 16. After paying his dues in the second XI, he made his debut in 1969 and he topped the bowling averages for the club in 1970, playing alongside such memorable cricketers as Peter Willey and Colin Milburn – and was a passenger in the terrible car accident when Milburn lost his left eye. But then Northants signed Bishen Bedi and Breakwell’s opportunities were limited so he moved down to Taunton in 1973. He was a live wire, and soon moved into a flatshare with Richards and Botham.“He had a few scrapes with Beefy in his youth,” remembers Vic Marks, who played with Breakwell for Somerset. “They enjoyed a good night out in Taunton and were big mates, and in fact he was Liam [Botham]’s godfather, and there is a lovely photo of Dennis, Viv, Ian and Cath, and Liam wrapped in swaddling clothes. He was a lovely character, effervescent, selfless, and a great fount of energy and fun in the dressing room.“He was part of the side when we first won a trophy in the Gillette Cup Final in 1979, when everything started buzzing, with the freakish arrival of Viv and Ian. He was one of the older ones and an essential part of the team. He was exciting with the bat, he could smack it if it came off, and solid with the ball.”Marks also remembers Breakwell hiding in the cupboard when Imran Khan was rushing in for Sussex when the team were looking for a nightwatchman. But most of all he remembers someone who would do anything to help a young cricketer.“He worked like a Trojan at King’s College, putting on all sorts of festivals. I remember when Jos started to touch the heights, he made the effort to play a golf day with Dennis. Dennis was a very nervy cricketer, bouncing around, uptight, and I remember asking him if he managed to watch Jos when he was playing. He said, yes he did. I asked if he found that difficult. And he said, ‘I don’t watch him live!’“He was a big favourite, part of the lovely furniture around Taunton, an adopted son. He used to field on the boundary in the days when you could graze at third man and he would swoop around and zip the ball in on top of the stumps and the River Stand would purr with pleasure. It was quite touching, when the news broke there were floods of expressions of sadness on the old players’ WhatsApp group, all saying how wonderful he was.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“He was one of those guys that touches many generations of cricketers, some good, some not quite so good, He was such a generous soul and not stuck in the good old days.”Buttler, who must have had scores of coaches in his high-flying career, still holds a special place for Breakwell. “Mentors are crucial. When someone asks you who is the best coach you ever had, they are probably expecting a coach who you worked with for England, but your most influential coaches come from a younger age, they shape you at that time.“I think back to Somerset and Jason Kerr at the academy and then Dennis and his great friend James. They were there at a very influential time of your life. As much as Den and I talked about cricket and scoring runs and how to play, his attitude to life and fun and how cricket could be a part of that, that is the most impressionable stuff. He was someone you warmed to being around.”What a legacy, what a life. This is an extract from the Guardian’s weekly cricket email, The Spin. To subscribe, just visit this page and follow the instructions.