BATHURST has lost one of its greatest cricketers of all time with the death of former Australian captain Brian Booth MBE on Friday at the age of 89.
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Booth played 29 tests for Australia and had the great honour of captaining the team on two occasions during the 1965-66 Ashes during the first and third tests of the series on home soil.
Over the course of his test career the talented middle order batter from Perthville would score 1773 runs at an average of 42.21, including five centuries.
Booth has been remembered not only as a great cricketer but a gracious and compassionate human both on and off the field.
Bathurst cricket coach Greg Griffith had the opportunity to cross paths with Booth on many occasions and said you couldn't find a player who better embodied the spirit of the game.
"He was one of those great people that you run into during your life. He was a true gentleman who never spoke ill of anyone. It was a pleasure to cross paths with him at cricket fields over the years," he said.
"I would have first run into him more than 40 years when he used to come up to some cricket camps in Orange during holiday periods. He'd bring his Australian cap along and talk to the boys about the art of batting and being a captain.
"His presence, and calmness, and the way he addressed the boys was great. He spoke about respecting the game and the umpires."
Booth was born in Perthville in 1933 and over his junior career would quickly establish himself as a promising talent, playing for the New South Wales country youth team at just 14 and making his first grade debut in the local competition at the age of 15.
Booth would develop a lifelong bond with the St George Cricket Club when he moved to the Sydney suburb of Bexley in 1952.
He made his Sydney first grade debut at the age of 19 and would go on to make his first-class debut for New South Wales in a game against Queensland during in the 1954-55 Sheffield Shield season.
His efforts in helping his state gain a Sheffield Shield title saw Booth gain selection in the Ashes tour of England in 1961, where he would make his test debut in the fourth game of the series at Old Trafford.
He scored 46 in his first test innings and helped the Australians secure victory by 54 runs, and ultimately a 2-1 series victory.
Booth solidified his place in the Australian team during the next Ashes tour at home in 1962-63, where he scored 112 in the first test at Brisbane and followed up with 103 in the following test at Melbourne.
His career high test score of 169 would come at Brisbane in the opening test of the four-match series against South Africa.
Booth would continue to work with his beloved St George club after his playing career, where he'd coach the club's AW Green Shield team.
"In the 90s, when I was head coach of the Western academy, we developed a reciprocal game with our under 17s squad playing the St George squad in Sydney, which he coached. He always made time to talk to everyone after the game," Griffith said.
"He was that sort of a bloke, a true gentleman. It's a game that goes on to this day, with the two teams playing for the Brian Booth Cup every year.
"I remember going to a function at the Sydney Cricket Ground and he spotted me at the other side of the hall. He's talking to me and he introduces me to Bill Lawry. Other test cricketers came along and he was excited to introduce you and talk about how you're involved with him.
"That's the kind of gentleman he was."
Booth was not only a talented cricketer but also a top class hockey player.
He gained selection in the New South Wales hockey team in 1955 and toured New Zealand the following year.
His eye-catching performances got him onto the Australian Olympic squad for the 1956 games in Melbourne, where the team would finish fifth.
The Sydney Hockey Association's best and fairest player each season has been awarded the Brian Booth Medal since 1967, and he has a place in both the SHA's Hall of Fame and the Cricket NSW Hall of Fame.
His distinction as the only person to ever represent Australia in cricket and hockey is unlikely to ever be replicated.
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