right-arm swing bowler and powerful late order left-handed hitter, he was once described by his England captain Mike Brearley as a talent to rival Ian Botham. Despite being a fine natural athlete, and possessing a natural sideways on action, he was continually hampered by regular injury problems and had a tendency to fall prey to 'niggles' in his back and legs, to such an extent that the first bowling machine installed at Lord's was nicknamed Chris Old, due to a propensity for breaking down so often. His departure from the field later in his career to the physiotherapist's table became part of cricket folklore. He never completed any of the ten series that he played abroad, and his only ever-present home series was against India and Pakistan in 1974, when in six Tests he took twenty-five wickets at twenty-two apiece, just emphasising what might have been under different circumstances. Post cricket After struggling to cope with retirement for several years, Old acquired and managed his 'Clipper Fish Restaurant' in Praa Sands, Cornwall, with his second wife Letitia, in 2002. Subsequently, he sold the restaurant amid the economic recession in 2009 and it was revealed in the press, during 2012, that he was working at Sainsbury's. He still coaches a local cricket club in Falmouth and tutors cricket coaching courses. His brother, Alan Old, is a former England rugby union international, who played one first-class match for Warwickshire against Cambridge University in 1969, and also played Minor Counties cricket for Durham in the 1970s. References External links 1948 births Living people English cricketers England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1969 to 2000 England One Day International cricketers Northerns cricketers Cricketers from Middlesbrough Warwickshire cricketers Yorkshire cricketers Yorkshire cricket captains International Cavaliers cricketers Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup Wisden Cricketers of the Year Northumberland cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers D. B. Close's XI cricketers D. H. Robins' XI cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers