[Cricket] RIP Mike Hendrick

Weststander said:

I first got into TV watching of cricket in summer 77, the Ashes series, my first ever test viewing Boycott’s 100th 100 at Headingly.

I loved that England team, Hendrick was key at taking wickets with his unerringly metronomic seam bowling. A hero.

RIP, thank you for the memories.

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Machiavelli said:

Pretty sure I did too, which is a shame, because we missed Whispering Death unleashing exocets on bone-hard pitches from the previous year. You can catch up on that on Babylon on Fire
Enjoy the hols. An NSC-free period might enhance them further. Perhaps.

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Weststander said:

I’ve always been an unsporting bad loser, so I was glad at the time to have missed 76. 77 was a good time to start liking England - Gower, Randall, Gooch, Botham, Knott/Taylor, Willis, some great spinners and Hendrick.

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Gwylan said:

Not unexpected news as he'd been ill for some time, but sad nonetheless.

He wasn't as feted as Snow, Willis or Botham but he was a vital part of England's attack in the late 70s and early 80s. He was never quick and wasn't a devastating swing bowler as Botham but he was naggingly accurate, got decent seam movement and could tie up an end when the glamour boys got the glory - he played 30 test but didn't snag a five-fer in that time. With his hunched shoulders and mournful demeanour, he had the look of a man who carried the cares of the world on his back - maybe it was the fact that he was so often the squad member to get dropped from the final XI.

He elected to go on the ill-fated South African tour of the 80s and he never played for England again, a sad end to his international career.

And yet another departure from the 1981 Ashes winners, joining Woolmer, Dilley and Willis in the Elysian Fields line-up

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Gwylan said:

A pedant writes: Gower made his test debut against Pakistan in 1976, famously hitting his first ball for four. And Gooch wasn't in the side in 1977 either, he'd made his debut in 75 but was dropped and didn't return until 1978 (and Taylor wasn't in the side either). Botham did play in two of the tests - and took a five-fer in each of them.

That was a good series to start with though. England trounced the Aussies and had some fine players. As well of the ones you mentioned, Greig, Amiss and Underwood played (and subsequently blotted their copybook by signing up for Packer). It was also a pretty hot summer IIRC. It was my first summer working so I missed a lot of the cricket that year

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