South African cricket legend and former national coach, Mike Procter, passed away at the age of 77 due to complications during surgery, according to his wife, Maryna Procter. After the apartheid era, he became South Africa’s first coach and enjoyed a notable career as an all-rounder. Procter also served as an International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee, and his family revealed that he experienced a “cardiac incident” during recovery from routine surgery in a hospital near Durban.
Procter’s international playing career was cut short in 1970 when South Africa was banned from world cricket due to apartheid. Procter was a fiery fast bowler who took 41 wickets at an average of 15.02 before being banned. He played seven Test matches, winning six of them against Australia. Procter was also a colorful batsman who tied the world batting record with six consecutive first-class centuries.
Procter guided South Africa’s national team to the 1992 World Cup semi-finals following their comeback to international cricket. His first-class cricket career spanned 16 years, with 14 seasons at English county Gloucestershire, five of them as captain, where he achieved legendary status.
David Graveney, a former Gloucestershire team-mate of Procter, said the South African “was a fantastic player and quite rightly regarded as one of the best all-rounders that has ever represented Gloucestershire”.
He added: “I don’t think people realise that when Mike played he was playing through great pain in his knee, but that didn’t stop him from performing at the level he did. He was just one of the best players I ever played with.
“The phase ‘Proctershire’ was very apt for Mike. He put in the biggest performances in the biggest games.”
He mainly played cricket for Natal in South Africa, where he was born.
Between 1970 and 1971, he scored six consecutive centuries while playing for Rhodesia, with his best performance being 254 against Western Province.
In his first-class cricket career, he accumulated 21,082 runs at an average of 36.92, including 47 centuries. He also took 1,357 wickets at an average of 19.07 runs.His spouse and two kids survive him.
