Brian Robert Edrich (18 August 1922 – 31 May 2009) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

for

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and Glamorgan between 1947 and 1956. He was a member of the Edrich cricketing family from

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

. His three brothers,

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* a ...

, Geoff and

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

, and his cousin,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

, all played first-class cricket.

Early life

Edrich was born in

Cantley, Norfolk Cantley is a village and former civil parish, in the parish of Cantley, Limpenhoe and Southwood, in the English county of Norfolk. Cantley is within the Broads Special Protection Area and lies on the north bank of the River Yare, some 17 ...

in 1922. He grew up on the family farm near

Lingwood Lingwood is a village and former civil parish, east of Norwich, now in the parish of Lingwood and Burlingham, in the Broadland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. In 2011 the built-up area had a population of 2,719 and the built-up ...

and in East Yorkshire when the family moved north in 1932, returning to live near

Heacham Heacham is a large village in West Norfolk, England, overlooking The Wash. It lies between King's Lynn, to the south, and Hunstanton, about to the north. It has been a seaside resort for over a century and a half. History There is evidence o ...

. He played cricket for Heacham, playing for the First XI by 1938, aged 16.Hounsome K (2015) ''A game well played - a history of cricket in Norfolk'', pp.271–272. Norwich: Hounsome. He was playing for an Edrich family team in 1938 when he was recommended as a promising youngster to

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

who offered him a contract for the 1939 season without seeing him play.

Cricket career

Edrich signed for

in 1939 and played for the Second XI during his first season. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

intervened and Edrich was not able to make his

debut until the 1947 season. During the war he served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

in Canada, India and Ceylon. After making his debut against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

in May 1947, he went on to play 181 first-class matches for

and Glamorgan between 1947 and 1956, scoring 5,529 runs.Brian Edrich

CricInfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

. Retrieved 22 October 2017. He broke into the Kent First XI as a regular in 1949, scoring 893 runs and taking 37 wickets, including both his career high score (193 scored against Sussex) and best bowling figures (7/41 taken against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

).Williamson M (2009
Brian Edrich dies aged 86

, 3 June 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2017. His innings against Sussex set a new Kent record partnership of 161 for the ninth wicket, made with Fred Ridgway at

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. ...

. He was awarded his

county cap In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

by Kent in 1949Brian Edrich
CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 October 2017. and his most prolific season was 1951 in which he passed 1,000 runs for the only time in his career, finishing with 1,267, including two centuries, and took 49 wickets. After this season he bowled rarely and his form became "patchy" and he was released by Kent after making 128 appearances at the end of the 1953 season. He joined Glamorgan for three seasons as a player, becoming an assistant coach in 1956 and playing in the Second XI to help develop young players. Financial cutbacks led to his coaching role being lost in the early 1960s and he moved to coach cricket at

St Edward's School, Oxford St Edward's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'. Approximately sixty p ...

in 1964. Whilst working in Oxford he played for Oxfordshire between 1966 and 1971, making 28 appearances in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

and playing twice in the Gillette Cup. He made one appearance for the

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

representative team against the touring Pakistanis in 1967, his final first-class match.

Later life

Edrich died at

Padstow Padstow (; kw, Lannwedhenek) is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately northwest of Wadebridge, northwest of Bodmin and ...

in Cornwall in 2009 aged 86.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edrich, Brian 1922 births 2009 deaths

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word m ...

English cricketers Glamorgan cricketers Kent cricketers Oxfordshire cricketers Minor Counties cricketers People from Cantley, Norfolk Sportspeople from Norfolk Military personnel from Norfolk Royal Air Force personnel of World War II People from Padstow Royal Air Force airmen