Gloucestershire Cricket legend Mike Procter dies
He passed away in his hometown of Durban in South Africa at the age of 77
Last updated 18th Feb 2024
Former player and legend of Gloucestershire Cricket, Mike Procter, has died at the age of 77.
He's widely thought of as being one of the greatest to have played for the club, who have lowered the flag to half mast until the start of the County Championship season.
He played nearly 500 matches - scoring over 20,000 runs and taking more than 1100 wickets during his 16-year playing career with the side.
In a statement on their social media, his former club said: " Gloucestershire Cricket is devastated to learn of the passing of former player and Club legend, Mike Procter, aged 77.
"Everyone at Gloucestershire Cricket would like to send their best wishes to Mike’s family during this terribly sad time."
Mike passed away in his home town of Durban in South Africa on Saturday (17 February).
His playing career for Gloucestershire lasted 16 years - in which, in first-class and List A cricket, he:
- Played 482 matches
- Scored 20,072 runs
- Took 1,113 wickets
The all-rounder also captained the side between 1977 and 1981.
He's among only 14 players in history to score 5,000 runs and take 500 wickets in a career for ‘Proctershire’, as Gloucestershire was affectionately nicknamed.
For Gloucestershire, he ended his time with the club with wins in the Gillette Cup (1973) and the 1977 Benson & Hedges Cup - holding 32 centuries to his name and four hat-tricks.
Mike made is debut in 1965 against the South African tourists, going on to make 14,441 runs and take 833 wickets in 259 first-class games, plus 5,631 runs and 280 wickets in 223 one-day games.
He is also one of only five players to score 100 runs and take ten wickets in the same match, a feat he achieved twice.
Alongside that, he's part of a roster of just three players to score a century and take a hat-trick in the same match for Gloucestershire - and is the only player to have done this twice.
Due to South Africa's apartheid isolation, Procter largely played domestic cricket, meaning his Test career for South Africa saw him make just seven appearances, all of them against Australia.
When he retired, he acted as Director of Cricket for the Free State and Natal provinces in South Africa, as well as in County Cricket for Northamptonshire CCC.
As well as all of this, he coached South Africa after the country returned to playing competitive international cricket and led them to the semi-finals of the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
In the early '00s, he went on to spend a number of years as a match referee before setting up a South African charity in 2014, helping to change the lives of young people through sport, which you can find out about here: The Mike Procter Foundation.
David Graveney, who also represented Gloucestershire between 1972 and 1990, said: “I was very fortunate as a player to play under two of the finest captains, Tony Brown being one and Mike Procter being the other. Mike was a fantastic player and quite rightly regarded as one of the best all-rounders that has ever represented Gloucestershire.
“I don’t think people realise that when Mike played he was playing through great pain in his knee, but that didn’t stop him from performing at the level he did. He was just one of the best players I ever played with.
“The phase ‘Proctershire’ was very apt for Mike. He put in the biggest performances in the biggest games. The hat-trick at Hampshire in the semi-final of the Benson & Hedges Cup and the runs he scored in the final of the Gillette Cup are two that I will remember fondly. The really good players perform on the biggest stage and that is what Mike did.”