Dennis Breakwell, former Northamptonshire and Somerset bowler and long-time mentor, dies aged 78
Dennis Breakwell, the former slow left-arm bowler for Northamptonshire and Somerset, died this week at the age of 78 after a 15-year county career and more than two decades working at King’s College Taunton.
Breakwell began his county career at Wantage Road, joining Northants at 16, making his first-team debut in 1969 and topping the club’s bowling averages in 1970. He played alongside Peter Willey and Colin Milburn at Northamptonshire and was a passenger in the car accident when Milburn lost his left eye. After Northants signed Bishen Bedi and opportunities became limited, Breakwell moved to Taunton in 1973 where he established himself at Somerset.
At Somerset he quickly became part of the dressing-room culture and shared a flat with Viv Richards and Ian Botham. Vic Marks recalled their close bonds, saying: “He had a few scrapes with Beefy in his youth,” and adding that Breakwell was Liam [Botham]’s godfather and appears in “a lovely photo of Dennis, Viv, Ian and Cath, and Liam wrapped in swaddling clothes.” Marks described him as “a lovely character, effervescent, selfless, and a great fount of energy and fun in the dressing room.”
Marks also noted Breakwell’s role in Somerset’s early success, saying: “He was part of the side when we first won a trophy in the Gillette Cup Final in 1979, when everything started buzzing, with the freakish arrival of Viv and Ian. He was one of the older ones and an essential part of the team. He was exciting with the bat, he could smack it if it came off, and solid with the ball.”
Other anecdotes from Marks underline Breakwell’s presence around the county scene: he remembered Breakwell hiding in a cupboard when Imran Khan was rushing in for Sussex and said of his fielding, “He used to field on the boundary in the days when you could graze at third man and he would swoop around and zip the ball in on top of the stumps and the River Stand would purr with pleasure.” Marks added that, when the news of Breakwell’s death broke, “there were floods of expressions of sadness on the old players’ WhatsApp group, all saying how wonderful he was.”
Away from first-class cricket Breakwell spent more than 20 years as a groundsman and coach at King’s College Taunton, cutting grass, preparing nets and supporting generations of school cricketers. Jos Buttler, who is at home recovering from an injury that has kept him out of England’s white-ball tour to Australia, recalled Breakwell’s influence: “I first came across him when I was playing for Somerset in the under-12s,” he said. “He was doing the grounds at King’s College and the school would host county weeks throughout the summer holidays. I joined King’s a couple of years later on a cricket scholarship, and he was someone I met again when being shown around, the heartbeat of the school.”
Buttler described how Breakwell combined practical help with conversation and companionship: “I saw a quote of him talking to Richard Walsh about me, he said he didn’t really coach me but talked to me, which is what I remember most. We talked about cricket and all sorts of stuff, he’d bowl at me, set up a net at lunchtime and have a wicket ready – this wasn’t just for me but for everyone. I played golf with him, went fishing with him. He just had a love of life. I can hear him coming now, his laugh and a ‘hello son’, he had an amazing way with him. He made you feel comfortable. He had such knowledge and I loved his old stories of playing with Ian Botham and Viv Richards, he was awesome. It’s very sad he’s passed away, you wish you’d got a chance to spend more time with him.”
Vic Marks recalled Breakwell’s commitment at King’s College and his connection to rising players: “He worked like a Trojan at King’s College, putting on all sorts of festivals. I remember when Jos started to touch the heights, he made the effort to play a golf day with Dennis. Dennis was a very nervy cricketer, bouncing around, uptight, and I remember asking him if he managed to watch Jos when he was playing. He said, yes he did. I asked if he found that difficult. And he said, ‘I don’t watch him live!’” Marks added that Breakwell “was a big favourite, part of the lovely furniture around Taunton, an adopted son,” and that “He was one of those guys that touches many generations of cricketers, some good, some not quite so good, He was such a generous soul and not stuck in the good old days.”
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