BILL EDRICH IS THE LEAST WELL-KNOWN of those formidable England cricketers who brightened British life in the black and white days after the Second World War. Leonard Hutton, the great Yorkshire opening batsman, was knighted. Denis Compton, the Middlesex middle order cavalier, should have been.
Peter May, Colin Cowdrey (later Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge), Tom Graveney, Ken Barrington and Ted Dexter, batsmen of contrasting character, remain much loved. Of the bowlers Fred Trueman, Brian Statham, Frank Tyson and Jim Laker are frequently recalled; Trueman as often for tales about him as for what he did on the field, which was plenty. Edrich, a very good rather than great cricketer, hardly gets a look-in.
As the title of Leo McKinstry’s book makes plain, however, Edrich had many lives, and all were…
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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, August/September 2024