An extraordinary man, who devoted many thousands of unpaid hours to coaching young players, Brian Ruby has died aged 88. Richard Spiller pays tribute
The low growl emanating from a net signalled that Brian Ruby was at work.
It was his favourite environment, an opportunity to coach young players in the rudiments of the game, helping them to become better players and – every bit as important to him – improve their chances of becoming well-rounded people.
To most he was a coach, to others a social service who could always be relied on for advice on whatever life was throwing at them.
Barely any club goes without a Colts section these days, and many rely on them to survive. In the mid-1970s they were far less commonplace and Ruby started Guildford’s on his arrival from Olinda Vandals, disturbed at the lack of young players.
His work, backed by Bob Bannell and Tony Smith among others, bore rich fruit when the likes of Darren and Martin Bicknell, Nick Peters, Gary Winterborne and Ashley Giles – who all moved on to first-class cricket and some higher – matured into fine cricketers.
Sunday mornings in the summer – and any winter evening where he could commandeer space – saw Woodbridge Road full of the unpolished stones he aimed to turn into diamonds. He ran a summer colts festival which gave plenty of others in the county an opportunity to impress, among them Graham Thorpe.
The main staircase at Guildford’s pavilion is lined with pictures of those who emerged and have done since, all owing something to the climate Ruby created in which young players could flourish.
His impact was much wider than one club though, Ruby drove the foundation courses across the county for the youngest colts. Michael Carberry recalled a summer holiday camp in Thornton Heath where he was spotted by Ruby and asked to attend a trial, the start of a path towards playing for England.
Ruby was aware – and concerned about – the lack of cricket in state schools long before it became the subject of expensive inquiries.
It didn’t matter to him where a youngster came from, he was more interested in where they might be going. And he had a natural sympathy with outsiders because he always felt one.
Born with a hair lip and cleft pallet, Ruby knew what it was like to be different and pilloried. But it also contributed towards the trademark voice which identified him immediately, the sound of it on the phone a signal that whatever had been planned for the next hour should be abandoned.
“Blunt, no-nonsense and direct,” was the description of Charles Woodhouse, former captain, Chair and President of Guildford.
Ruby coached wearing a tie and would still be wearing it when he played on a Sunday afternoon, taking it off along with his sweater when it came to bowl another over of off-spin – he wasn’t a massive spinner of the ball – and then donning both again. And matches involving Ruby were rarely dull either.
He was prone to halting a game briefly if he thought a young opposition player needed advice. And once, while bowling against Surrey Club & Ground, he appealed with such vehemence that his false teeth shot towards the startled umpire, non-striker (Chris Bullen) motioning to tap them into the pitch before they were retrieved by Ruby amid a string of imprecations.
Ruby’s trade as a builder and decorator for Guildford Borough Council was often put to use in repairing or improving something in the pavilion at Woodbridge Road and the annual visit by Surrey would not have happened without his industry on many occasions, raising thousands of pounds for the host club and giving so many youngsters the opportunity to thrive.
He became involved with Weybridge in the early 1990s but continued his involvement with Colts cricket across the county and was made an Honorary Life Vice-President of Surrey CCC in 2005.
Ruby had his detractors – senior players (with justification on occasions) complained that they were frozen out and his determination to drill the fundamentals of the game into his charges saw him labelled as a “by the book” coach. To which he answered, “well it’s a pretty good book, isn’t it?”.
He recruited the Bicknells from a neighbouring club, where they were failing to be picked for the third team, and gave them first team debuts at 15. Giles was 14 when first elevated. Ruby later persuaded him to abandon seam bowling – against the advice of Surrey coaches at the time – and switch full-time to spin. That led to a career which took in 54 Tests, the current Worcestershire CEO describing Ruby as “a huge influence on my career”.
It wasn’t just players who benefited from his influence, many coaches were inspired by his example and knew they could turn to him for advice in times of trouble.
Having looked after his ailing mother for many years, Ruby enjoyed a contented marriage – his second – to Bernice. He mellowed (all things are relative) and quietly appreciated recognition for his work, such as being made an Honorary Life Vice-President of Surrey.
Yet nothing gave him greater satisfaction than seeing the players he had helped and inspired flowering as cricketers and humans.
