Ex-England pacer Hendrick, who shook India in 1974, no more


Former England pace bowler Mike Hendrick, who took 26 of his 87 Test wickets against India during the 1974 and 1979 series and held the world record for most Test wickets without a five-wicket haul, died on Tuesday. He was 72.

Hendrick, who took 770 wickets in 267 first-class matches and 35 wickets in 22 ODIs, was also the first professional coach of Ireland.

He represented Derbyshire County Cricket Club.

“Derbyshire County Cricket Club is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of club great, Mike Hendrick. Our thoughts are with Mike’s family at this sad time,” tweeted Derbyshire County Cricket Club on Tuesday.

The right-arm pacer was also part of the Ashes-winning side in 1977 and 1978/79.

Hendrick’s career best spell of 4/28 came against India in 1974 during the 3rd Test in Birmingham. He removed India’s No. 3 and 4 batsmen, captain Ajit Wadekar (36) and Gundappa Viswanath (28) in the first innings to dent the Indian batting and then scalped Erapalli Prasanna and Bishan Bedi towards the end.

India were shot out for 165.

He took three wickets in the second innings, scalping Viswanath (25) and Prasanna again and also picked the wicket of Farokh Engineer. England won that Test by an innings.