West Indies. On the Wednesday before the third and final Test against Pakistan, he was told he had been stripped of the captaincy; the replacement captain was Colin Cowdrey. The third Test against Pakistan was Close's final Test as captain. He led England to a comprehensive 8-wicket victory, winning the series 2–0. His record as captain was played 7, won 6, drawn 1, the best record of any Englishman who captained in more than two Tests. Last years at Yorkshire In 1969 Close played only 18 county championship games as he was plagued by a calf injury, although he did lead Yorkshire to victory in the one-day Gillette Cup for a second time, the first time being in 1965. A shoulder injury saw Close miss much of the 1970 season, and Yorkshire fell down the championship table, but once Close was fit again, they had an extraordinary run and finished fourth. Close, however, always opposed one-day cricket, believing that it lessens players' abilities. Mike Procter notes that when Gloucestershire played Yorkshire in the John Player 40-over League in 1970, with Yorkshire three wickets down and needing six an over, word came from Close in the dressing room: "No chance of winning this one, lads — just get some batting practice." Yorkshire had a policy of not offering contracts to its players, but in return they would tell cricketers by the end of July if they did not require their services the next summer. When July 1970 came and went, Close must have thought he was safe. However, Close offended the Lancashire president, the Honourable Lionel Lister, when Lister entered the away captain's changing room to speak to Close after Lancashire, Yorkshire's archrivals, had beaten them at Old Trafford to retain the one-day John Player League trophy. Close, who may not have known who Lister was, offered Lister some choice words. Lister immediately told Brian Sellers, the chairman of the Yorkshire cricket committee, of the insult. Close wrote a letter to Lister apologising, and gave a copy to a Yorkshire committeeman. But the letter was never presented to the committee as a whole, which voted to sack him as the first agenda item at their next meeting. In November 1970 Close was summoned to see Sellers, and given the choice of either resigning or being sacked. To begin with, he chose to resign. Later that day, and after speaking to his