 Edrich in 1937 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | William John Edrich | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1916-03-26)26 March 1916 Lingwood,Norfolk, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 24 April 1986(1986-04-24) (aged 70) Whitehill Court,Chesham,Buckinghamshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-armoff-break Right-armfast-medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Brian Edrich (brother) Eric Edrich (brother) Geoff Edrich (brother) John Edrich (cousin) Justin Edrich (son) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 300) | 10 June 1938 v Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 28 January 1955 v Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1932–1936 | Norfolk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1934–1936 | Minor Counties | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1934–1958 | MCC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1937–1958 | Middlesex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1959–1971 | Norfolk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:CricketArchive,17 September 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
William John EdrichDFC (26 March 1916 – 24 April 1986) was afirst-class cricketer who played forMiddlesex,Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC),Norfolk andEngland.[2]
Edrich's three brothers,Brian,Eric andGeoff, and also his cousin,John, all played first-class cricket. Locally in Norfolk the Edriches were able to raise a full team of eleven. In 1938 a team composed entirely of Edriches beatNorfolk in a one-day match.[3]
Born inLingwood,Norfolk, Bill Edrich was an attacking right-handed batsman and right-arm fast bowler.[2] Playing first for Norfolk in theMinor Counties at the age of 16, he qualified for Middlesex in 1937 and was an instant success, scoring more than 2,000 runs in his first full season. The following year, 1938, he scored1,000 runs before the end of May and made the first of 39Test match appearances, though with little success. In fact, Edrich achieved almost nothing in Tests until the final"Timeless Test" of the1938–39 tour to South Africa atDurban, where his 219 enabled England to reach 654 for five wickets, at which point the Test was left drawn to enable the tourists to catch their ship home.[2]
Having finally achieved Test match success, Edrich was promptly dropped for the 1939 series against theWest Indians. Even so, he was aWisden Cricketer of the Year in the 1940 edition ofWisden. Edrich playedassociation football as an amateur forNorwich City andTottenham Hotspur during the 1930s.[2]
At the outbreak ofwar Edrich joined theRoyal Air Force, in which he attained the rank ofSquadron Leader, operating as a pilot forRAF Bomber Command. On 12 August 1941 he participated in a low-level daylight attack byBristol Blenheim bombers against power stations in theCologne area, described byThe Daily Telegraph as "the RAF's most audacious and dangerous low-level bombing raid". Of the 54 Blenheims sent on the mission, twelve were shot down. For his part in the war he was awarded theDFC.[4][5][6] He had "an immense relief that he survived" the war and as a result loved to party and lived for the day.[2][7][8]
When cricket resumed after theSecond World War, he quickly became a regular in the England team, batting at No. 3 and sometimes opening the bowling. He scored centuries againstAustralia in the1946–47 Ashes series, two against the South Africans in 1947, another against Australia in 1948 and a final one againstNew Zealand in 1949. A gutsy batsman he was "almost indifferent to his own safety. No bowler is too fast to hook; no score too large to defy challenge" and was badly bruised standing up to the bouncers ofLindwall andMiller in1946–47 and1948.[7]
The postwar years were Edrich's heyday and in 1947 he brokeTom Hayward's record, scoring 3,539 runs in the season and not being much overshadowed byDenis Compton, who scored 3,816. Compton's and Edrich's aggregates remain the highest ever in an English cricket season, and with the reduction in the number of first-class matches seem likely never to be overtaken. In addition to his runs, Edrich also took 67 wickets in the same season.
Edrich's Test career continued untilThe Ashes tour of 1954–55, but he played less regularly after 1950, when he appeared to have little answer to the West Indian spinnersSonny Ramadhin andAlf Valentine. When England retained the Ashes atAdelaide in 1954–55 the team consumed over 56 bottles of champagne and Edrich – the life and soul of any party – climbed the marble pillar in the lounge ofGlenelg's Pier Hotel and sang "Ginger".[7]
All told, Edrich played in 571 first-class matches between 1934 and 1958, scoring 36,985 runs, with a highest score of 267 not out. His run total puts him 29th on the all-time lists. He scored 2,440 runs for England in his 39 Test matches, with the 219 not out atDurban his best.[2] A professional before the Second World War, he turned amateur afterwards and captained Middlesex jointly with Compton in 1951 and 1952, continuing in sole charge from 1953 to 1957. After retiring from Middlesex, he returned to Norfolk and playedMinor County cricket until he was 56, captaining the county until 1971.[2]
A famously convivial man, Edrich was married five times and had two sons, Jasper andJustin. He died following a fall at hisChesham,Buckinghamshire home on 24 April 1986, aged 70. The MCC named the twin stands at the Nursery End atLord's Cricket Ground, in his and Denis Compton's honour. Cricket writer, Colin Bateman, noted, "it is a dull, practical structure which does little justice to their mercurial talents and indomitable spirits".[2] The twin stands were completely rebuilt to a much more attractive and fitting design and were opened in 2021.
Media related toBill Edrich at Wikimedia Commons| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by | Middlesex County Cricket Captain 1951–1957 (jointly withDenis Compton 1951–2) | Succeeded by |
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