“I never really bothered much about averages,” Mike Procter has been known to comment on some of on-field cricket heroics…but as we found out there is nothing average about this man.
Grab a sports page reporting on the exploits of the great Mike Procter, and it reads something like a cartoon graphic. “Blast! Crash! Slam! Smash!” His play seems to have had volcanic power, “above that of mere mortals”, and was often summed up in one word: intimidating.
Procter’s determination and tenacity were clear throughout his career and, though perhaps he’s softened a little round the edges over time, those traits are still easy to spot today. Tagged one of the best all-rounder cricketers in the history of the game, he may no longer be playing Test cricket, but KZN born and bred, Mike Procter (who these days is settled in Durban North) is still batting, bowling and having a field day.
AF: You hold some legendary cricket achievements, including six centuries in succession, six sixes in succession, 103 wickets in one season, a 57-minute century, four centuries in 11 days, 59 wickets in the 1976 Currie Cup, two all-LBW hat tricks and a century in the same match twice. Which of these pleased you most?
MP: It’s no good having achievements like that if the team doesn’t do well, so the ones I felt best about were always when our team won too.
AF: Your Test career was cut short when you were 23, when SA was banned from international cricket because of apartheid. How did you feel about that?
MP: We always felt it was coming and the team walked off the field at a Test in Cape Town in protest against the government at the time, so it wasn’t really a shock. As I was playing professional cricket anyway, it was just one of those things we had to accept.
AF: Since then you’ve been extensively involved in almost every aspect of cricket. Tell us a little about that.
MP: Besides playing for KZN and South Africa, as well as for Rhodesia, and county cricket in England, I’ve held positions including Coach of South Africa in 1994, Director of Cricket OFS, Natal and Northhampton County. I’ve been a TV commentator for channels including Sky, Trans World International, NZSport and SuperSport over a period of about seven years. I’ve also been on the South African National Selection Committee, and have been an ICC Match Referee for about 11 years.
AF: You must have travelled quite a bit?
MP: Cricket has taken me to every cricket-playing country in the world. It’s been great.
AF: Besides reffing, what are you doing now?
MP: I‘ve had a pretty good life out of cricket and now I have an opportunity to give something back. I’m involved in a programme with former KZN bowler Rodney Malamba at Ottawa Primary School, where we coach every week. We took 16 of these students to the South Africa/Australia Test at Kingsmead recently – something they’ve never experienced before.
AF: Is the programme going well?
MP: There’s some incredible talent there, and at least one 12-year-old “Herschelle Gibbs” in the making. The great thing is the girls are coming to cricket coaching too. Of course with just one meal a day for many of the children, there’s so much that is needed. Any other forms of sponsorship would be welcome too.
AF: What other charities are you involved with?
MP: I’ve been helping with the SA Police Widows and Orphans Fund for the last eight years. We’ve raised more than R1.5-million for the fund through its annual golf day to date. I’ve also played regularly in the annual charity cricket match in the UK hosted by Sir David Frost and Sir Victor Blank to raise money for Wellbeing over the last 22 years.
AF: Your wife is rather a sporting legend too.
MP: Yes, I met Maryna Godwin in 1969 and we were married three months later. She had just made her name at Wimbledon, the French Championships, the French Open and the US Open, but she stopped playing the tennis circuit when we started a family. For a number of years after that we lived six months in England and six months in Zimbabwe while I was playing cricket for Gloustershire and Rhodesia, but we’ve been settled in Durban North since the 80s.
AF: Where to next?
MP: We’re very happy here!
AF: The best thing about Durban North?
MP: It’s close to everything, runs smoothly and has friendly people.
AF: Tell us about your family.
MP: We have three adult children, and three grandchildren who, sadly for us, live in the United States.
AF: And SA cricket?
MP: I think with Gary Kirsten as coach, the national team will go from strength to strength.
AF: Something the public doesn’t know about you?
MP: I’ve given up smoking and in my next life I’m going to come back as a rock ‘n roll singer.
AF: Ideal dinner party guest?
MP: Nelson Mandela – I think he’s the greatest human being of all time.
AF: What makes you smile?
MP: My horses winning and, above all, my grandchildren.
Story by André Fiore