John Edrich, the dogged left-hander from a Norfolk cricketing clan, was a much better bat than many of his better known contemporaries. He and Geoff Boycott would, surely, have become one of the great opening partnerships of Test cricket had he not so often dropped down to number three. His record against Australia was outstanding. He scored 120 at Lord's in 1964, 109 at Melbourne, 103 at Sydney as well as 85 at Melbourne in 1965-66; 88 & 64 at Edgbaston followed by l64 at the Oval in 1968; 115 not out at Perth and 130 at Adelaide in 1970-71; 175 at Lord's & 96 at the Oval in 1975. He made 50 & 33 not out playing with a broken rib at Sydney in 1974-75, the only Test when he was England captain. He is also one of the few England batsmen to pass 300, making 310 not out in 532 minutes against New Zealand in 1965. He scored 82 in the first ever ODI, played at Melbourne in 1971. Edrich made his debut with his Surrey team-mate, Micky Stewart, in the first Test against the West Indies in 1963, then went to India under Mike Smith in 1963-64, playing two Tests on that illness-ridden tour. He missed a number of Tests in his early years, mainly through selectorial whims but sometimes for other reasons, as when he was hit on the head - there were no helmets then - in the Lord's Test of 1965. Indeed, Edrich usually batted without even a cap. He had opening partnerships of 146 and 172 with Boycott in the West Indies in 1968 and scored two centuries against New Zealand in 1969. He returned to the England side after being discarded as 'too old' in 1974, scoring 100 not out against India at Old Trafford and 96 at Lord's. In 1976 he scored 76 not out in the first Test against West Indies, but bowed out of Test cricket after he and Close were bombarded by bouncers at Old Trafford that year. (Bob Harragan)