John Edrich
Encyclopedia
John Edrich, MBE
(born John Hugh Edrich, 21 June 1937, Blofield
, Norfolk
) is a former English
cricketer
, who played for Surrey
and England. He earned a reputation as a dogged and fearless batsman, and his figures show that he was amongst the best players of his generation. He played a total of seventy seven Test matches
for England, in an international career lasting from 1963 to 1976. He was renowned for playing the cut, cover drive and was strong off his legs.
He came from a cricketing family, his four cousins, Eric Edrich
, Bill Edrich
, Geoff Edrich
and Brian Edrich
, all having played first-class cricket
. He was educated at Bracondale Private School from the ages of eight to seventeen, during which time he played cricket at weekends and was coached by former cricketer CSR Boswell.
The cricket writer Colin Bateman gave the following description of Edrich: "Unflinching, unselfish, and often unsmiling while going about his business in the middle, he was a fiercely formidable opener who knew his limitations and worked wonderfully within them".
matches for Combined Services in 1956 and 1957, whilst doing his National Service, Edrich made his first-class debut for Surrey
in their final fixture of the 1958 season. The following year, he came to the fore, scoring 1,799 runs at an average of 52.91. Over the next four years he and Micky Stewart
became a very effective opening partnership for the county, to the extent that both were called up for England for the Test series against the West Indies, who were dominating the sport at this time. Despite Edrich's strong performances for his county, he managed a total of only 108 Test runs in six innings facing the likes of Hall
, Sobers
and Griffith
.
However, an opportunity to break back into the international side arose when Geoffrey Boycott
was injured during Australia's tour of England in 1964. Edrich was called up to the side for the Second Test, at Lord's, and did not disappoint, scoring 120. The match ended in a draw due to rain. However, he was not selected for the 1964-5 tour of South Africa.
Injuries to other players resulted in another recall to the England side for the Third Test against New Zealand
at Headingley
in July 1965, where he scored 310 not out. This innings spanned over 8 hours, and included 52 fours and 5 sixes - 238 runs or 77% of his innings. Commentators at the time said that he might have broken the existing Test record of 365 within another 90 minutes or so if his captain, Mike Smith, had not felt it necessary to declare the innings closed. However, a week later during the First Test against South Africa, he suffered a blow to the head from a short-pitched delivery by Peter Pollock
. This was before helmets came into use, and he was forced to retire hurt on 7 not out.
Wisden
named Edrich as Cricketer of the Year in 1966 for his achievements in 1965, alongside Colin Bland
, Dick Motz
, Graeme Pollock
and brother Peter Pollock
. As well as his Test triple century, he had scored a total of 2,319 runs at an average of 62.67 during the season, including eight hundreds. At one stage, in nine successive innings he scored 139, 121*, 205*, 55, 96, 188, 92, 105 and 310*. Not previously known as a big hitter, he struck forty nine sixes during the course of the season.
He had by now become an established member of the England batting line-up, rarely omitted unless injured. Beginning with the 1965-66 Ashes series, he sometimes batted at number three rather than, as hitherto, opening the innings. In the 1970-71 Ashes series his 687 runs (52.85) kept him at the crease for 33 hours and 26 minutes, a record for a Test series until broken by Shivnarine Chanderpaul
against India in 2001-02. His form at this time helped England play 27 consecutive Tests without defeat in 1968-71, and lose only one Test out of 40 in 1966-71.
Edrich played in the first ever One Day International, on 5 January 1971 against Australia. After the Third Test had been called off due to rain, the umpires called for an unscheduled match, consisting of 40 eight-ball overs per side. Edrich top scored with 82 runs, winning the Man of the Match
award.
The following summer, Surrey won the County Championship
for the first time since 1958, with Edrich's batting being an important factor in the county's success. By now, Stewart had dropped down the order to number three, and Edrich had formed another successful opening partnership with Mike Edwards
. Stewart retired after the 1972 season, and from 1973-77 Edrich succeeded him as Surrey's captain.
On the tour of Australia
in 1974-75, his fortune regarding injuries did not improve. In the first Test
a ball from aggressive pace bowler Dennis Lillee
struck his hand and broke it, although he was able to continue batting. In the Fourth Test, the then Captain Mike Denness
dropped himself and Edrich was subsequently named as captain
. He had little luck in that game when Dennis Lillee
broke his ribs with the first ball of his second innings, although he did recover to bat later on, scoring 33 runs. England lost the test, and it was to be his first and final appearance as captain.
During the 1977 county cricket season, Edrich scored his 100th first-class century, playing for Surrey against Derbyshire. In the same year he was awarded an MBE for services to cricket.
Edrich finished his first-class
career in 1978, having scored 39,790 runs. He became a Test selector in 1981.
In 1995 he was named as England's batting coach.
In the summer of 2000, it was announced that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of incurable leukemia
known as Waldenstrom's
, and he was told that he had seven years to live. In an interview with The Independent
, following his diagnosis, Edrich said:
In 2006/7 he served as President of Surrey County Cricket Club
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born John Hugh Edrich, 21 June 1937, Blofield
Blofield
Blofield is the village and civil parish in the Broadland district of Norfolk, England. The parish includes Blofield and the hamlets of Blofield Heath and Blofield Corner and, according to the 2001 census, had a population of 3,221. It is on the A47, five miles east of Norwich and west of Great...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
) is a former English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
, who played for Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
and England. He earned a reputation as a dogged and fearless batsman, and his figures show that he was amongst the best players of his generation. He played a total of seventy seven Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
for England, in an international career lasting from 1963 to 1976. He was renowned for playing the cut, cover drive and was strong off his legs.
He came from a cricketing family, his four cousins, Eric Edrich
Eric Edrich
Eric Harry Edrich was an English cricketer. Born in Lingwood, Norfolk, Edrich played in 36 first-class matches for Lancashire as a wicketkeeper between 1946 and 1948, before becoming a farmer. His three brothers, Brian, Geoff and Bill, and also his cousin, John Edrich, all played first-class...
, Bill Edrich
Bill Edrich
William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket...
, Geoff Edrich
Geoff Edrich
Geoffrey Arthur Edrich was born in Lingwood, Norfolk, on 13 July 1918.He was an English cricketer who played 339 first-class matches for Lancashire between 1946 and 1958 as a right-handed batsman...
and Brian Edrich
Brian Edrich
Brian Robert Edrich was an English cricketer. He was a left-handed middle-order batsman and a right-arm off break bowler. He also acted as assistant coach of Glamorgan. Born in Cantley, Norfolk, he died at Padstow in Cornwall, aged 86...
, all having played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
. He was educated at Bracondale Private School from the ages of eight to seventeen, during which time he played cricket at weekends and was coached by former cricketer CSR Boswell.
The cricket writer Colin Bateman gave the following description of Edrich: "Unflinching, unselfish, and often unsmiling while going about his business in the middle, he was a fiercely formidable opener who knew his limitations and worked wonderfully within them".
Life and career
Having played four first-classFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
matches for Combined Services in 1956 and 1957, whilst doing his National Service, Edrich made his first-class debut for Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
in their final fixture of the 1958 season. The following year, he came to the fore, scoring 1,799 runs at an average of 52.91. Over the next four years he and Micky Stewart
Micky Stewart
Michael James Stewart OBE is an English former cricketer, coach and administrator. He was awarded the OBE in 1998 for services to cricket....
became a very effective opening partnership for the county, to the extent that both were called up for England for the Test series against the West Indies, who were dominating the sport at this time. Despite Edrich's strong performances for his county, he managed a total of only 108 Test runs in six innings facing the likes of Hall
Wes Hall
Wesley Winfield Hall is a Barbadian former cricketer and politician. A tall, strong and powerfully built man, Hall was a genuine fast bowler and despite his very long run up, he was renowned for his ability to bowl long spells. Hall played 48 Test matches for the West Indies from 1958 to 1969...
, Sobers
Garfield Sobers
Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers AO, OCC is a former cricketer who captained West Indies. His first name of Garfield is variously abbreviated as Gary or Garry. He is widely regarded as one of cricket's greatest ever all-rounders, having excelled at all the essential skills of batting, bowling and...
and Griffith
Charlie Griffith
Charles Christopher Griffith is a former West Indian cricketer who played in 28 Tests from 1960 to 1969. He formed a lethal fast bowling partnership with Wes Hall during the 1960s...
.
However, an opportunity to break back into the international side arose when Geoffrey Boycott
Geoffrey Boycott
Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen...
was injured during Australia's tour of England in 1964. Edrich was called up to the side for the Second Test, at Lord's, and did not disappoint, scoring 120. The match ended in a draw due to rain. However, he was not selected for the 1964-5 tour of South Africa.
Injuries to other players resulted in another recall to the England side for the Third Test against New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
at Headingley
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
in July 1965, where he scored 310 not out. This innings spanned over 8 hours, and included 52 fours and 5 sixes - 238 runs or 77% of his innings. Commentators at the time said that he might have broken the existing Test record of 365 within another 90 minutes or so if his captain, Mike Smith, had not felt it necessary to declare the innings closed. However, a week later during the First Test against South Africa, he suffered a blow to the head from a short-pitched delivery by Peter Pollock
Peter Pollock
Peter Maclean Pollock, has played a continuing role in the South Africa cricket team as a player, selector, and father of a future captain. He was voted a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1966...
. This was before helmets came into use, and he was forced to retire hurt on 7 not out.
Wisden
Wisden
The Wisden Group was a group of companies formed by John Wisden & Co Ltd, publishers of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As well as John Wisden & Co, the group included the The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Cricinfo – the world's highest traffic cricket website – and the Hawk-Eye computerised...
named Edrich as Cricketer of the Year in 1966 for his achievements in 1965, alongside Colin Bland
Colin Bland
Kenneth Colin Bland, was a cricketer who played for South Africa.Bland originally came from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe but then not a Test cricket- playing nation. He also played for the South African provincial sides Eastern Province and Orange Free State...
, Dick Motz
Dick Motz
Richard Charles Motz was a New Zealand cricketer. A right-arm fast bowler and hard-hitting lower order batsman, Motz played 32 Test matches for the New Zealand cricket team between 1961 and 1969....
, Graeme Pollock
Graeme Pollock
Robert Graeme Pollock, known as Graeme, is a former cricketer. He played in 23 Test matches for South Africa and represented Transvaal and Eastern Province at domestic level....
and brother Peter Pollock
Peter Pollock
Peter Maclean Pollock, has played a continuing role in the South Africa cricket team as a player, selector, and father of a future captain. He was voted a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1966...
. As well as his Test triple century, he had scored a total of 2,319 runs at an average of 62.67 during the season, including eight hundreds. At one stage, in nine successive innings he scored 139, 121*, 205*, 55, 96, 188, 92, 105 and 310*. Not previously known as a big hitter, he struck forty nine sixes during the course of the season.
He had by now become an established member of the England batting line-up, rarely omitted unless injured. Beginning with the 1965-66 Ashes series, he sometimes batted at number three rather than, as hitherto, opening the innings. In the 1970-71 Ashes series his 687 runs (52.85) kept him at the crease for 33 hours and 26 minutes, a record for a Test series until broken by Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Shivnarine "Shiv" Chanderpaul is a cricketer, and former captain of the West Indies cricket team. He is the first Indo-Caribbean in the West Indies team to play 100 Tests for the West Indies and has captained them in 14 Tests and 16 One Day Internationals...
against India in 2001-02. His form at this time helped England play 27 consecutive Tests without defeat in 1968-71, and lose only one Test out of 40 in 1966-71.
Edrich played in the first ever One Day International, on 5 January 1971 against Australia. After the Third Test had been called off due to rain, the umpires called for an unscheduled match, consisting of 40 eight-ball overs per side. Edrich top scored with 82 runs, winning the Man of the Match
Man of the match
In sport, a Man of the Match or Player of the Game or Man of the Series award is given to the outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact, in a particular match or series. The term was originally used more often in cricket before being adopted by other sports. This can be a...
award.
The following summer, Surrey won the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
for the first time since 1958, with Edrich's batting being an important factor in the county's success. By now, Stewart had dropped down the order to number three, and Edrich had formed another successful opening partnership with Mike Edwards
Mike Edwards (cricketer)
Michael John 'Mike' Edwards is a former English cricketer who played for Cambridge University from 1960 to 1962 and for Surrey from 1961 to 1974. He was a batsman who had only limited success until he became an opener in 1966. He was also a fine short-leg fielder.- Early struggles :After attending...
. Stewart retired after the 1972 season, and from 1973-77 Edrich succeeded him as Surrey's captain.
On the tour of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1974-75, his fortune regarding injuries did not improve. In the first Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
a ball from aggressive pace bowler Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
struck his hand and broke it, although he was able to continue batting. In the Fourth Test, the then Captain Mike Denness
Mike Denness
Mike Denness is a former Scottish cricketer who played for England, Scotland, Essex and Kent. Scotland did not have a representative international team at the time of Denness' career, so he could only play for England at Test and ODI level. Denness became the first Scotsman to captain England...
dropped himself and Edrich was subsequently named as captain
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
. He had little luck in that game when Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
broke his ribs with the first ball of his second innings, although he did recover to bat later on, scoring 33 runs. England lost the test, and it was to be his first and final appearance as captain.
During the 1977 county cricket season, Edrich scored his 100th first-class century, playing for Surrey against Derbyshire. In the same year he was awarded an MBE for services to cricket.
Edrich finished his first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
career in 1978, having scored 39,790 runs. He became a Test selector in 1981.
In 1995 he was named as England's batting coach.
In the summer of 2000, it was announced that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of incurable leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
known as Waldenstrom's
Waldenström macroglobulinemia
Waldenström's macroglobulinemia is cancer involving a subtype of white blood cells called lymphocytes. The main attributing antibody is Immunoglobulin M . WM is an "indolent lymphoma,"...
, and he was told that he had seven years to live. In an interview with The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, following his diagnosis, Edrich said:
In 2006/7 he served as President of Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
.