Probably one of the most natural talents the game of cricket has ever seen, Mike Procter was denied the chance to showcase his talents on the international stage by South Africa's isolation. His performances in the seven Test matches he did play - all against Australia - suggest he would have kept favourable company with other great allrounders of the late 20th century such as Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee. He took 41 wickets at 16 apiece, and averaged 34.83 with the bat in the second of the two series. Always one for the spectacular, Procter put together a string of memorable performances for his English county side Gloucestershire, to which he was passionately loyal. He scored six centuries in consecutive first-class innings while playing for Rhodesia in the early 1970s, and went on to coach South Africa as they returned to the international stage. He later became a member of the ICC's elite panel of match referees where controversy seemed to follow him - he was the referee at The Oval in 2006 when Pakistan forfeited the Test and again in Sydney in 2007-08 when he banned Harbhajan Singh. He stood down from the position in 2008 in order to take up a new role as South Africa's convener of selectors.
Neil Manthorp October 2008