Former South African all-rounder Mike Procter has passed away at the age of 77, according to his family.
Procter had a brief international career, playing seven Tests for South Africa before they were banned from international cricket in 1970 due to the country’s apartheid government.
He later spent 14 seasons with Gloucestershire and went on to coach South Africa upon their return to international cricket.
Procter’s wife, Maryna, revealed that he had experienced complications during surgery. Gloucestershire announced that the club’s flag would be lowered to half-mast until the beginning of the County Championship season on April 5th.
Former team-mate David Graveney paid tribute to Procter, describing him as one of the best all-rounders to represent Gloucestershire. Despite playing through great pain in his knee, Procter’s performances were exceptional.
Procter was victorious in six out of the seven Tests he played against Australia between 1967 and 1970, taking 41 wickets at an average of just 15.02 before his international career was cut short. In his 401 first-class games from 1965 to 1988, he took 1,417 wickets at 19.53, with an additional 344 wickets at 18.76 in List A cricket.
He captained Gloucestershire to victory in the Gillette Cup and the Benson and Hedges Cup and was voted the county’s greatest overseas player in 2020.
From 1991 to 1994, Procter served as the Proteas’ coach, leading the side to the semi-finals of the 1992 World Cup, and later became an International Cricket Council match referee. He made headlines in 2006 when he forfeited the Oval Test between England and Pakistan due to the away team’s refusal to return after being penalized for ball-tampering.
He banned India’s Harbhajan Singh for three Tests in 2008 for alleged racial abuse of Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds, although the ban was later lifted.
