1977 Gloucestershire v Hampshire Benson & Hedges Semi Final
I remember it being a beautiful day for the semi-final at Southampton, the outfield there was always very quick when the weather was good. We were taking on a Hampshire side that was captained by Bob Stephenson and included Gordon Greenidge and Andy Roberts. We won the toss and started well, with Sadiq Mohammad and Andy Stovold putting on over a century stand for the first wicket but then wickets began to tumble and we were bowled out for just 180. I really thought it wasn’t going to prove to be enough, but as captain I didn’t portray that to the team. It was a case of us making sure as a team we bowled and fielded to the very best of our abilities to keep them under 180.
I remember bowling to Barry Richards and Gordon Greenidge. For the first over or two, the ball didn’t swing. Rather oddly, I decided to go round the wicket, mainly because of the angle, but also the wicket looked pretty burnt and just wasn’t swinging. For some particular reason, on this day, the ball did swing when bowling round the wicket, not only that but at the angle I was bowling at it was very unusual to see it swinging so much. It proved to work well, as those four wickets in five balls showed.
The funny thing is that after the fourth wicket fell, Nigel Cowley was the next man in, I hit him on the pads and a big appeal went up but it wasn’t given. We were hardly going to complain after four wickets in five balls, but years later, Nigel did say to me he reckoned he was absolutely plumb LBW. We joke about that to this day!
What many folk may not recall is that with two overs to go and the match still finely poised with Hampshire having eight wickets down, I chose to bowl the penultimate over, leaving Brian Brain to bowl the final one. Andy Roberts was batting and could really wield a bat, a couple of big hits by Andy and it would be all over for us. At the other end was Hampshire’s captain Bob Stephenson.
I managed to bowl Bob and think it was a wicket maiden, leaving Brian to deliver the final over with one wicket remaining. With his third ball Brian bowled Andy and we had won the game.
To me it wasn’t simply the winning of the match that gave me the most pleasure, it was that we were now heading to Lords. The Gloucestershire fans were in magnificent voice that day, chanting Gloucestershire and Proctershire, it was a superb team performance and a trip to the final meant so much to everyone involved.
Mike Procter
Mike is supporting the Sporting Memories Network
Follow on Twitter @MikeProccie
Memory added on May 21, 2014
1 Comment (Add your voice)
I was 15 and in the crowd for this game. Four of us from the Ridings at Winterbourne were on the coach from the County Ground for a day we'll never forget. What really sticks in my mind though, apart from Proccie's unbelievable burst and the way the match momentum swung one way then the other and back again, was something that happened between innings ... I was in the queue for an ice cream and listening to two Hampshire fans talking about their chances. One said 'they've got only two bowlers ... Procter is crocked and Brain is over the hill'! Proccie's 6-13 was sensational but Brian Brain (3-28) was also crucial to a famous win
– Steve, June 3 2014 at 12:25
