World News – UK – John Edrich, former England opener, dies at the age of 83

John Edrich, the former English batsman who was known as one of the dumbest players in the world for fast bowling, has died at the age of 83. He died on Jan.. December at his home in Northern Scotland for natural reasons.

Edrich did 77 tests between 1963 and 1976, mostly as a fearless left-hander, and scored 5138 runs out of 43. 54 and just under 40. 000 in a world-class career for Surrey that spanned 23 seasons.

His best hour was probably Ray Illingworth’s triumphant Ashes tour of 1970-71 when his 648 route was 72. 00, including two hundred, were instrumental in England’s 2-0 victory. In total, he completed 12 test hundreds and 24 fifties, including a career-best 310, which was not played against New Zealand in Headingley in 1965.

« With John’s death, we lost a productive and fearless batsman – one of the select few to have more than 5. Have scored 000 runs for England, « said ECB CEO Tom Harrison in a statement. « His duels with some of the best fast bowlers in the world were legendary and it is testament to his ability that his 310, which was not knocked out by New Zealand in 1965, remains the fifth highest Test rating by an English batsman. He will unfortunately be missed and our thoughts are with his family and friends. « 

In Sydney, Edrich was the one-time captain of England from 1974-75 and stood up for Mike Denness, who dropped out of shape in the middle of a hot run.

Edrich also starred in the first one-day international match in Melbourne (1970-71), scoring the first frontier in the format as well as the first half century and even claiming the first player. of the match award for his innings of 82 out of 119 balls. However, he couldn’t stop Australia from taking their first five-wicket win.

Edrich’s testing career ended where it began against West Indies at Old Trafford in 1976 when he and Brian Close were determined at the age of 39 on the third night when Michael Holding cast one of the wildest spells of fast-paced bowling ever.

Thirteen years earlier, Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith had tested Edrich’s skills in the same place, while in between he came across a litany of greats, including South African Peter Pollock, who coldly slapped him with a bouncer at Lord’s in 1965 and Dennis Lillee, who left him with two broken ribs after pinning him with a bouncer on the 1974-75 tour.

Edrich came from a famous Norfolk cricket family – his cousin Bill played 39 Tests between 1938 and 1955 while three other cousins ​​also played at the county level. In 1958, at the age of 21, he made his county debut with a Surrey champion who was up for the title for the seventh year in a row. It was an awkward first match – Surrey was left out for 57 in the fourth innings when Edrich knocked 7-3, but he proved his stomach for the fight with an undefeated 24.

Retired Edrich moved to Aberdeenshire but remained a grandeur of the game and was President of Surrey in 2006. In 2000, at the age of 63, he was diagnosed with leukemia and given seven years to live, but overcame the disease to last another two decades.

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