John Hugh Edrich, (21 June 1937 – 23 December 2020) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er who, during a career that ran from 1956 to 1978, was considered one of the best batsmen of his generation. Born in

Blofield Blofield is a 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, increasing to ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, Edrich came from a cricketing family, his four cousins,

Eric Edrich Eric Harry Edrich (27 March 1914 – 9 July 1993) was an English first-class 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 th ...

, Bill Edrich,

Geoff Edrich Geoffrey Arthur Edrich (13 July 1918 – 2 January 2004) was an English first-class cricketer born in Lingwood, Norfolk, who played in 339 matches for Lancashire between 1946 and 1958 as a right-handed batsman. Before his first-class career, he ...

and

Brian Edrich Brian Robert Edrich (18 August 1922 – 31 May 2009) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Kent and Glamorgan between 1947 and 1956. He was a member of the Edrich cricketing family from Norfolk. His three brothers, Eri ...

, all having played first-class cricket. He was educated at the private

Bracondale School Bracondale School was a private boys' school in the Bracondale area of Norwich, Norfolk. It existed from 1821 to 1993. History The school was opened on Bracondale Hill in July 1821 as an academy for boys between the ages of 8 and 16 years. It ...

between the ages of eight and seventeen, during which time he played cricket at weekends and was coached by former cricketer C. S. R. Boswell. Edrich played for

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was renowned for playing the cut, the cover drive and scoring off his legs, earning over the years a reputation for dogged fearlessness. His statistical achievements show that he was amongst the best players of his generation, playing a total of seventy-seven Test matches for England between 1963 and 1976, and scoring a triple-century in 1965 that is the fifth highest Test score for England. It contained 57 boundaries, which is still a record for any Test innings. A player during the time when

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

cricket was in its infancy, he played, and top scored, in the first ever ODI match. The cricket writer Colin Bateman described him as "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-class matches for

Combined Services The Combined Services cricket team represents the British Armed Forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lo ...

in 1956 and 1957, whilst doing his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, Edrich made his first-class debut for

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 Michael James Stewart (born 16 September 1932) is an English former cricketer, coach and administrator. A right-handed batsman, Stewart's international career was hampered by illness that curtailed his first overseas tour – serving as vice-ca ...

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 The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, 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 bowlers including

Hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

, Sobers and

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Rid ...

. However, an opportunity to break back into the international side arose when

Geoffrey Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's m ...

was injured during

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's tour of England in 1964. Edrich was called up to the side for the Second Test, at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

, and did not disappoint, scoring 120. The match ended in a draw due to rain. However, he was not selected for the 1964–65 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 ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

in July 1965, where he scored 310 not out. This innings spanned over eight hours, and included 52 fours and five 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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, he suffered a blow to the head from a short-pitched delivery by

Peter Pollock Peter Maclean Pollock (born 30 June 1941) is a retired South African cricketer. He has played a continuing role in the South Africa cricket team as a player and selector. He was voted a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1966. He was primarily a f ...

. This was before helmets came into use, and he was forced to retire hurt on 7 not out.

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

named Edrich as Cricketer of the Year in 1966 for his achievements in 1965, alongside

Colin Bland Kenneth Colin Bland (5 April 1938 – 14 April 2018) was a Rhodesian cricketer who played in 21 Test matches for South Africa in the 1960s. He is regarded as one of the greatest fielders in the history of Test cricket. Cricket career Colin ...

Dick Motz Richard Charles Motz (12 January 1940 – 29 April 2007) 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. He was the ...

Graeme Pollock Robert Graeme Pollock (born 27 February 1944) is a former cricketer for South Africa, Transvaal and Eastern Province. A member of a famous cricketing family, Pollock is widely regarded as one of South Africa's greatest ever cricketers, and as ...

and brother

. 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

Glenn Turner Glenn Maitland Turner (born 26 May 1947) played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's best and most prolific batsmen. He is the current head of the New Zealand Cricket selection panel. Early life Glenn Turner was born in Dun ...

against West Indies the next season. 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

(ODI), on 5 January 1971 against

. 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, thus scoring the first half-century in an ODI, and won the first

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award in ODI history. The following summer, Surrey won the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

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 to 1977 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 Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

a ball from aggressive pace bowler

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is Australian retired 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 Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Mike Denness Michael Henry Denness (1 December 1940 – 19 April 2013) was a Scottish cricketer who played for England, Scotland, Kent and Essex. Scotland did not have a representative international team at the time of Denness' career, so he could only play ...

dropped himself and Edrich was subsequently named as captain. He had little luck in that game when 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 only appearance as captain. During the 1977 county cricket season, Edrich scored his 100th first-class century, playing for Surrey against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. In the same year he was appointed 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

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

known as Waldenstrom's, and he was told that he had seven years to live. In an interview with ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', following his diagnosis, Edrich said: In 2006–07 he served as President of

Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London ...

. In 2012 he said he had been cured of cancer by a course of injections of

mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. ...

extract, and was fit and active again. He lived in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

.''

'' 2013, p. 1579. Edrich died on 23 December 2020 at his home in north Scotland, aged 83.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edrich, John

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

1937 births 2020 deaths Military personnel from Norfolk 20th-century British Army personnel British Army soldiers Combined Services cricketers D. H. Robins' XI cricketers England One Day International cricketers England Test cricket captains England Test cricketers England cricket team selectors English cricketers of 1946 to 1968 English cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Members of the Order of the British Empire Norfolk cricketers People from Blofield Players cricketers Presidents of Surrey County Cricket Club Sportspeople from Norfolk Surrey cricket captains Surrey cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year