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The South African legend Mike Procter passed away at the age of 77 after suffering a complication during heart surgery, his wife confirmed the news to the press late on Saturday, February 17. He was one of the top cricketers to emerge from the rainbow nation around the Apartheid era, which led to him being restricted to only seven Test matches for South Africa.
In her statement to the South African website News24, Maryna, the wife of Mike Procter, said, “He suffered a complication during surgery and while in ICU went into cardiac arrest. He became unconscious and unfortunately never woke up.” Mike Procter is now survived by his wife and their two daughters.
The Test career of Mike Procter in South African colours began in the year 1967, and in his seven appearances in the longest format of the game, he took 41 wickets at an average of just 15.02, all against the Australian. He was also known for his power game, and the contributions from him with the bat led to South Africa registering a 4-0 whitewash of Australia in 69/70.
In 1970, Wisden named Mike Procter as one of their Cricketers of the Year. But, the sporting isolation of South Africa in the 70s and 80s during the Apartheid-era, meant that Mike Procter never got the chance to represent his country at the international level again. Still, he had a great First-Class career, playing 401 matches, scoring nearly 22,000 runs at an average of 36 and taking 1417 wickets at an average of 19.53.
Mike Procter also appeared in 271 List A matches, scoring over 6,600 runs at an average of 27.94 and taking 344 wickets at an average of 18.76. He also took South Africa to the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup 1992 upon their readmission to international cricket before serving as an ICC match referee between 2002 and 2008.
