Famous Cricketers No 86 - John Edrich

John Hugh Edrich John Hugh Edrich was born on 21st June 1937 at Blofield, Norfolk. His grandfather, Harry Edrich, spent his days farming, cricketing and raising thirteen children. One of his sons was the father of John being Fred and another was the father of Geoff [Lancashire], Brian [Kent and Glamorgan], Eric [Lancashire] and Bill [the famous “W.J.” of Middlesex and England]. The name Edrich, although uncommon today, was by no means so rare in the Middle Ages and it predates William the Conqueror. Tracing a direct line is impossible but Norfolk Edriches took landholdings of Edric the Dane recorded in the Domesday Book. There is strong written evidence of Edriches living in Norfolk during the fourteenth century. John Edrich learned his cricket at his home on a concrete pitch and says as far back as he can remember he always had a bat in his hand. His father first bowled to him when he was around the age of five. From the time he was eight until he was 17 he was educated at Bracondale Private School, Norwich. He was only 14 when he played for Blofield Village on Saturdays and South Walsham on Sundays, for whom he hit his first hundreds. In those days he also kept wicket and at Easter attended the coaching classes at Britannia Barracks, Norfolk, conducted by C.S.R.Boswell, the Norfolk and former Essex player. At one time captain of Norfolk colts, Edrich made his first step into bigger cricket in 1954 when he played for Norfolk in the Minor Counties Competition. There he showed sufficient consistency to head their batting with an average of 34.28, top score 56. During the following winter he began to think seriously about his future. Taking advice from the father of Bill Edrich he wrote to Surrey, enclosing a report from L.A.Barrett, the Norfolk captain. A satisfactory trial at The Oval followed and in 1955 he topped the Surrey batting in the Minor Counties Championship, making 762 runs at an average of 44.82, highest innings 100. From the very first day that John Edrich appeared in the nets at The Oval he attracted criticism and over his career he was to become an even more controversial cricketer than Bill Edrich. The first-team nets were on one side of the ground, the second-team on the other, and the established players, knowing that John would be having his first knock that morning, watched for him to pad up, and some of them strolled over. There was a steady adverse comment about his methods and technique. “Look at the way he played that one!” “He’ll never make the grade playing like that!” But after a fewminutes Bernard Constable, the senior player amongst those watching, said quietly: “I’ve noticed one thing - he hasn’t missed one yet.” However, Edrich appreciated the sound coaching he received at The Oval, first from Andrew Sandham and later from Arthur McIntyre. Surrey lost him full time for two seasons while he was doing National Service, but he still played a fair amount of cricket and in 1956 at Southampton hit what he terms his first important century, 100 not out for The Army against Hampshire in a non first-class match. He also played nine or ten games a season for Surrey II; but in three appearances for the Combined Services he had failed dismally. Two of the three games, one each in 1956 and 1957, had been against his own county at the Oval, when he particularly wanted to do well; but in the first of them he got a ‘pair’, clean bowled each time, and in the second he made 7 and 0, confirming the majority opinion. Nevertheless when he returned to The Oval for his second full season in 1958 he did so well for the Seconds that he was given his first-team chance in the last match against Worcestershire. Surrey had already won their seventh successive championship, and this gave them a chance to blood a new player. 4