I only knew Brian for 19 years – that makes me a relative newcomer to a very wide circle of friends, colleagues, family and teammates and my memories are only through the prism of a single sport.  I was welcomed by Brian to Parham Park CC after contacting the club in 2001 (probably because I would provide a significant reduction in the average age and would also be available for regular rabbit hole filling duties).

Brian was and remained one of the pillars of the club, not just as a player but as everything else, whether committee roles or putting his work boots on and getting stuck into whatever maintenance/building/plumbing was required.  Every club needs someone like Brian, who commit time and effort selflessly so they can enjoy an outing on a Sunday with some likeminded team mates.  He just knew how to do stuff.  Mr Reliable. I am sure that his business success was in no small part because people could rely on him to deliver.  I will miss our little chats.  We might have some club matters to talk about and then get onto other stuff while we idled away some motorway miles on the way to respective clients.

I never played against Brian prior to joining Parham so can’t judge his early playing career, but stats don’t lie.  55+ hundreds is a very good club player.  That is a lot of hundreds.  He had a method. Classic opener with a solid defence and he knew his scoring areas; cut shot, pull, midwicket clip and a drive if he was feeling extravagant. He always kept the other batsman on their toes with a quick single off the last ball of the over. I am just one of the many that got “Huffered” over the years, but despite that I loved batting with him. I am just looking at a scorebook from June 2010. Parham batting first and scored 207 for 3 declared in 48 overs. B Huffer 100 not out.  Vintage Huffer, the story of so many of his innings.  

I would have liked to see him bowl when he was younger. Even as he dropped his pace, his classic sideways action remained, and the ball continued to hoop around.  You could give the ball to Brian to make something happen with the utmost confidence in his reliability. Another random glance at the 2010 scorebook: Brian opening the bowling -  10 overs 4 maidens 3 for 23, both openers stumped!

Brian was competitive, make no mistake, but he did it the right way. He could play hard when necessary but respected the game and how recreational village cricket should be played.  Just as important as the game was what came after, in the local. Swapping stories, tall tales told, memories of teammates, opponents, legends. Chats with the opposition; the same familiar faces year after year.   A lot of cricketers knew Brian; there is a big circle of opposition players who watched him bat since 1966.

  
Cricket was just a small part of the chapters of Brian’s life but he will always be part of our local village cricket folklore and we will be proud to raise a glass to him whenever we get together once more. Good cricketer, great company, top man.

My deepest condolences to all his family and friends, old and new, and his colleagues.