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

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

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

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. His three brothers,

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur 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-N ...

, Geoff and Bill, 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 * Second E ...

, all played first-class cricket.

Early life

Edrich was born in

Cantley, Norfolk Cantley is a village and former civil parishes in England, civil parish, now in the parish of Cantley, Limpenhoe and Southwood, in the English county of Norfolk. Cantley is located north of Loddon, Norfolk, Loddon and east of Norwich. The v ...

in 1922. He grew up on the family farm near Lingwood and in East Yorkshire when the family moved north in 1932, returning to live near Heacham. 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 Ken ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

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

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

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

and

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

CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

. 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 Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

) and best bowling figures (7/41 taken against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

).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 (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly 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 ...

. He was awarded his county cap 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

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 in 1964. Whilst working in Oxford he played for

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

between 1966 and 1971, making 28 appearances in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County 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 counties (previously ca ...

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 (; ) is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary, approximately northwest of Wadebridge, ...

in Cornwall in 2009 aged 86.

Notes

External links

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

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

English cricketers Glamorgan cricketers Kent cricketers Oxfordshire cricketers Minor Counties cricketers People from Cantley, Norfolk Military personnel from Norfolk Royal Air Force personnel of World War II People from Padstow Royal Air Force airmen Cricketers from Norfolk 20th-century English sportsmen