The great Mike Proctor has sadly passed. I have fond memories sitting on the boundary rope at Police Grounds watching the Great Man charging in from the sidescreen. It was a sight to behold.
When they talk of the great all-rounders to have ever played the game, he is often overlooked. He was right up there with Kallis and Co. I think his best bowling figures were when he decided to bowl a spell of offspin.
Here's a nice article from Glen Byrom about a moment in time back in the Currie Cup days. Oh to be able to buy The Herald and sit back and enjoy a well written piece.
CAPTAINCY GOES TO PROCTER
By Glen Byrom; 24 January 1972
Mike Procter is Rhodesia�s new cricket captain. He will lead the 12-man team on its two-match tour to South Africa starting this week and will have Stuart Robertson as his vice-captain.
In other bold new moves, the four selectors have brought in two young seam bowlers for their first-class debuts � Vincent Hogg (Alexandra) and Paddy Clift (Old Georgians).
Deposed captain Ray Gripper retains his place as opening batsman. Dropped from the last tour team are batsmen John McPhun and Brian Oldrieve of Mashonaland, and opening bowler Terry Bowes, of Matabeleland.
The 12 to tour are: Mike Procter (Mash), capt., Stuart Robertson (Mash), vice-capt., Brian Barbour (Mat), Patrick Clift (Mash), Brian Davison (Mash), Jack du Preez (Mash), Duncan Fletcher (Mash), Howie Gardiner (Mash), Ray Gripper (Mash), Vincent Hogg (Mash), Richie Kaschula (Mash), Jimmy Mitchell (Mash).
The team leaves with manager Alwyn Pichanick by air for Johannesburg on Thursday and play Ali Bacher�s Transvaalers in an A Section Currie Cup match at the Wanderers on Friday, Saturday and Monday. The friendly match against Northern Transvaal is in Pretoria next week, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The 18-year-old Clift is a surprising choice, though a commendable one. His selection shows a welcome new policy by the selectors to be more adventurous in giving untried young players a chance.
Clift is a fine prospect for the future and Messrs Pichanick, Pithey, Mansell and Partridge must be applauded for blooding him now. He has the temperament to succeed in the tension-riddled A Section and I predict he will develop into one of this country�s most outstanding cricketers.
Clift, who was 18 in November, has only been out of St George�s College a few weeks and started work in the Government (Treasury Department) last Monday. He has played Rhodesia Nuffield for the past two years and won his South African Schools� cap this year.
�I can�t really express myself,� he said from Gwelo last night after hearing of his selection. �I just sat stunned for about five minutes and I didn�t know what was going on.�
Vince Hogg, who turned 20 last July, has been opening the bowling for Alex with good results this season. He stands 6ft 3in and cuts the ball both ways off the pitch, as does Clift.
Hogg is currently doing his national training in the Air Force at New Sarum. He went to Allan Wilson School and played Rhodesia Nuffield in 1969 and 1970 and South African Schools in 1970. In his last year at school Hogg took a record 44 wickets in only six games.
The axing of McPhun and Oldrieve was expected, while Bowes did not come up to expectations on the recent tour, though time is on his side and he will certainly be a contender in the future.
Giving Procter the captaincy is an enterprising move. The blond Springbok is sure to be an authoritative and demanding leader, while he has the stature to command full respect from his team.
Making the stylish left-hander Stuart Robertson vice-captain shows the selectors look to him as Rhodesia�s future leader and it is wise to groom him under pr for a couple of years.
PADDY CLIFT: A COOL COMPETITOR
A Rhodesian cricketer . . . 18-year-old Paddy Clift just can�t believe it has happened to him. He left school a few short weeks ago and now he is packing his bags for the two-match South African tour with Mike Procter�s team.
�I�m still pretty stunned,� said Paddy yesterday as he watched driving rain ruin his first chance to practise with his fellow Rhodesians at Old Hararians� nets.
So from the fields of St George�s College, Clift is rocketing into the tension-riddled atmosphere of Currie Cup cricket. He is retiring and calm by nature, yet this belies his fighting spirit while bowling or batting. In his own assuming way he is a fierce competitor and he has revealed a fine temperament for Old Georgians this season in First League.
Several times his cool, determined batting has saved the club from disaster, while he has been a regular wicket-taker with his accurate and varied swing bowling. He mainly bowls the away-swinger, but has a good in-ducker and can cut the ball both ways off the pitch, using his 6ft 1in to good advantage.
Patrick Bernard Clift, born in Salisbury on July 14, 1953, gives credit to one man for his cricketing ability. That man is Jim Cornford, coach at St George�s College and at Old Georgians Club.
�He is a great coach,� enthuses Paddy. �Over the past few years he has speeded up my bowling off the same run and has got me using more shoulder.�
Mr Cornford�s coaching over the past three years paid handsome dividends last year when Paddy took a record 110 wickets for St George�s in 28 matches.
Paddy, who weighs 175lb, played 2nd XV rugby at centre and fly-half for the College, but now spends the winter playing 3rdteam hockey for his club. He is also interested in squash, but cricket remains top of the list, and this year he played for South African Schools against Transvaal at the Wanderers.
He returns there this Friday with 11 other Rhodesians who are on an important mission to salvage this country�s cricketing pride.