Mike Procter was born on 15 September 1946 at Durban, Natal, South Africa and educated at Hilton College, Natal. He played for Rhodesia (1970/71-1975/76), South Africa (1966/67-1969/70), Gloucestershire (1965-81), Natal (1965/66-88/89), Orange Free State (1987/88) and Western Province (1969/70).
He was a right-hand bat and right-arm fast or off-break bowler who took his fair share of catches – 325 in first-class cricket alone. His nickname was Proc or Proccie.
He was South African Cricket Annual Cricketer of the Year in 1967, a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1970 (along with Basil Butcher, Alan Knott, Majid Khan and Don Shepherd) and the Professional Cricketers’ Association Player of the Year in 1970 and 1977. He captained Gloucestershire from 1977-1981 and won the Walter Lawrence Trophy in 1979 for the fastest hundred of the season.
Procter was a huge, natural talent and one of the best post-WWII all-rounders. Unfortunately, he was only able to play 7 Tests, all against Australia, due to South Africa’s isolation caused by apartheid. Had he been given further opportunities, he would probably have kept favourable company with the likes of Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee.
He played 401 first-class matches scoring 21,936 runs with a best of 254, 48 hundreds, 109 fifties and an average of 36.01. He took 1,417 wickets with a best of 9/71, 5 wickets in an innings on 70 occasions and 10 wickets in a match 15 times with an average of 19.53 and an astonishing strike rate of 46.19.
In 1970/71, in South Africa, he scored 956 runs at an average of 119.50 with 6 hundreds including his best score of 254.
In 1969 he took 108 wickets, with a best of 7/65, and in 1977 he took 109 wickets with a best of 7/35.
Procter took 41 wickets in his 7 Tests (aged 20 to 23) at 15.02 with an economy rate of 2.44 and a strike rate of 36.9!! He took 3/27 and 4/71 on his Test debut as South Africa beat Australia by 8 wickets. His best bowling figures, of 6/73 (his victims being Stackpole, Redpath, Walters, Mayne, McKenzie and Gleeson), were achieved in his final Test as South Africa beat Australia by 323 runs. He averaged 34.83 with the bat in the second of his 2 Test series.
Incredibly, he scored six centuries in consecutive first-class innings while playing for Rhodesia in the early 1970’s, an all-time first-class record shared with C.B. Fry and Don Bradman.
Proccie played 259 first-class matches for Gloucestershire (AKA Proctershire) from 1965-1981. For Gloucestershire he scored 14,441 runs (best – 203 v Essex at Gloucester in 1978), 32 hundreds and 70 fifties with an average of 36.19 and took 833 wickets (best – 8/30 v Worcestershire at Worcester in 1979), 42 times 5 wickets in an innings and 5 times 10 wickets in a match with an average of 19.56.
So, we look forward to listening to an all-time, true Gloucestershire legend.