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Big lumbering Derbyshire seam bowler Mike Hendrick was not a glamorous
Test cricketer - but he was one of the most effective. Many a time
selectors must have sat down to pick the team with his name already
inked in. It would have happened many more times if he and Chris Old had
not often been in direct competition for a place. "Hendo" could be
relied upon for two or three wickets every innings, but probably his
finest hour was against Pakistan at Headingley in the 1979 World Cup,
when he ripped out their top order in half-a-dozen balls and ended up
with 4-15 in his 12 overs.
That was the match when Boycott and Gooch
ended up bowling to the tail-enders as the main seamers had not quite
bowled them out before running out of overs. He was often criticised for
bowling too short a length, as the ball would often veer past the bat
without taking the edge. Ken Barrington, then England manager, accused
him of bowling in 'two-man's land', but Hendrick knew his own strengths.
"They did not know whether to play forward with confidence or back with
confidence, " he explained. "When I hit the seam on a receptive pitch,
it did seem to go a long, long way. Mike Brearley used to say to me:
"Look, Hendo, it's a flattish pitch. Get on here, sew one end up. I
tried to attack, bowled at the stumps.
Even on a flat Test pitch
something will happen untoward if you keep plugging away". He was at his
most successful when England won the Ashes in 1977, taking four wickets
at Trent Bridge, eight at Headingley and two at the Oval. He had 19
more when Brearley took England to Australia in 1978-79. He bowled eight
overs for just five runs in a World Cup game against Canada. (Bob Harragan)
He played for Derbyshire from 1969 to 1981 and for Nottinghamshire from 1982 to 1984.
He died on 27th July 2021 aged 72 from cancer of the liver and colon.
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