Bill Edrich
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| Full name | William John Edrich | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
26 March 1916 Lingwood, Norfolk, England |
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| Died | 24 April 1986 (aged 70) Whitehill Court, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England |
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| Batting style | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right-arm off-break, Right-arm fast-medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | BR Edrich, EH Edrich, GA Edrich (brothers), JH Edrich (cousin), JW Edrich (son) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 300) | 10 June 1938 v Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 28 January 1955 v Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1965–1970 | Norfolk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1937–1958 | Middlesex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1934–1958 | MCC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1934–1936 | Minor Counties | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: CricketArchive, 17 September 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
William John "Bill" Edrich DFC (26 March 1916 – 24 April 1986) was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.
Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket. Locally in Norfolk the Edriches were able to raise a full team of eleven.
Born in Lingwood, Norfolk, Bill Edrich was an attacking right-handed batsman and right-arm fast bowler. Playing first for Norfolk in the Minor Counties at the age of 16, he qualified for Middlesex in 1937 and was an instant success, scoring more than 2,000 runs in his first full season. The following year, 1938, he scored 1,000 runs before the end of May and made the first of 39 Test match appearances, though with little success. In fact, Edrich achieved almost nothing in Tests until the final "Timeless Test" of the 1938-39 tour to South Africa at Durban, where his 219 enabled England to reach 654 for five wickets, at which point the Test was left drawn to enable the tourists to catch their ship home.
Having finally achieved Test match success, Edrich was promptly dropped for the 1939 series against the West Indians. At the outbreak of war Edrich joined the Royal Air Force, in which he attained the rank of Squadron Leader, operating as a pilot for RAF Bomber Command. On 12 August 1941 he participated in a low-level daylight attack by Bristol Blenheim bombers against power stations in the Cologne area, described by the Daily Telegraph as "the RAF's most audacious and dangerous low-level bombing raid". Of the 54 Blenheims sent on the mission, twelve were shot down. For his part in the war he was awarded the DFC. He had "an immense relief that he survived" the war and as a result loved to party and lived for the day.
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