Mike Procter was the sort of cricketer who could turn any game on its head within half an hour with either bat of ball and in the televised 1977 Benson & Hedges Cup semi-final against Hampshire at Southampton he did just that.
I somehow managed to avoid school that day and settled down in front of the television to watch contentedly as Gloucestershire’s opening pair of Andy Stovold and Sadiq serenely added 106 for the first wicket, before the innings fell away badly and Gloucestershire were bowled out for just 180 in the last of their 55 overs.
Against a strong looking Hampshire batting line-up few gave Gloucestershire any chance at this stage, but Mike Procter, in his first season as county captain and leading from the front as always, had other ideas. With so few runs to play with it would have been easy to go onto the defensive, but that was never his way and he sped in for his opening spell with 7 close catchers around the bat.
Realising that the ball had started to swing for him, he switched to bowl round the wicket and with the fifth ball of his fourth over he uprooted the dangerous Gordon Greenidge’s middle stump. That was just the start and with the first ball of his next over he trapped his friend and fellow South African Barry Richards lbw. An almost identical ball next up had new batsman Trevor Jesty suffering a similar fate and with a large and increasingly noisy Gloucestershire contingent in the crowd baying for more Procter sped in to take a bewildered looking John Rice’s off stump out of the ground for a hat-trick and 4 wickets in 5 balls as Hampshire slumped to 18 for 4.
With his next ball Procter rapped Nigel Cowley on the pads and was convinced it was out. Plenty of others in the ground were inclined to agree, but umpire Tom Spencer turned the appeal down. The skipper took himself off after bowling 6 overs, holding himself back for the final overs, having taken his 4 wickets for just 3 runs.
Cowley and David Turner took advantage of the respite and began repairing some of the damage, although both were out before Procter returned for the final decisive overs. He picked up 2 more wickets in the process, but with the final Hampshire pair at the crease just 9 runs were needed from the last 2 overs. Procter bowled a maiden to Andy Roberts, before his trusty opening bowling partner Brian Brain picked up the final wicket in the last over to finish with 3 for 28 as Gloucestershire squeezed home by 7 runs.
Mike Procter’s 6 for 13 from his 11 almost unplayable overs made him the obvious Man of the Match and within a month he was lifting the Benson & Hedges Cup at Lord’s following a much more straightforward 64 run win over Kent.
Jon Foster
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Memory added on November 12, 2013
4 Comments (Add your voice)
Great memory. My dad was there with his brother and still says it's his favourite sporting memory ever!
– Jon Woods, November 14 2013 at 16:47
I recall it being one of the few times my largely laconic and not easily impressed father leapt from his seat whilst watching Sport on TV. And he was an Essex fan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9WKSiG4qdA And if you watch the above clip, Richie seems fairly impressed too. Shame the next ball to Cowley isn't included in this footage, because I seem to recall a wall of sound emanating from our (by modern standards) small TV has Procter charged in. Followed by screamed appeals from the very vocal Gloucester fans. Great memory, Great cricketer, nice article. Thanks for posting
– Dickie, January 18 2014 at 13:55
And I was there on that fantastic day when Proc got the hat trick, I was only 16 at the time and in the middle of my O levels, luckily I did not have an exam that day but did the next ! What a brilliant day that was, best atmosphere ever watching Glos !
– Tim from Cheltenham, February 26 2014 at 22:33
I remember that semi-final as if it were yesterday. Me and my mates, (Alan Graham AKA Nobby, Bob Williams and Dave Cambridge) who had followed the club over the years, including Old Trafford 1971, assembled in Southampton having travelled by train from Bristol and Oxford. It was a terrifically hot day and we were seated in the part of the ground (deep cover boundary to a bowler coming in from the end nearest the coast) with the majority of the Shire fans. Given the warmth there were numerous runs to the bar for the purposes of rehydration. On reflection I have little doubt this influenced the style of celebration of Procky's bowling feat, especially after the distress prompted by the Shire's innings falling away. At the fall of John Rice's wicket I recall I did the obvious thing which was to pick up the drink's tray and hammer poor Nobby over the head with it! I am a grandfather now so would not recommend it but it can be seen on the Youtube vid at 2.18.
– Ian Courtney, May 13 2014 at 14:23
