On the eve of Christmas 2020, the cricket world has lost one of England’s finest batsmen. John Edrich passed away recently at the age of 83, and tributes are pouring in from all over the world. The southpaw was known for his mental grit as he had the knack of delivering in the crunchiest situations. Be it playing an anchor knock or batting with the tail-enders, Edrich rose to every challenge which came his way. Making his debut in 1937, Edrich scored 5138 runs in 77 Test matches at a brilliant average of over 43. Vasant Raiji, India’s Oldest First-Class Cricketer, Passes Away at 100.

Edrich hailed from a strong cricketing background with his four cousins, Eric, Bill, Geoff and Brian having played first-class cricket. John also didn’t take long in proving his mettle as he piled up a mountain of runs in the domestic circuit before making his international debut for England. Edrich was technically solid, and his tendency of staying at the crease for long made him an even bigger headache for oppositions.

The left-handed batsman had an excellent conversion rate as he scored 12 hundreds and 24 fifties in his prolific Test career. He smashed 52 fours and five sixes in his knock of 310 runs against New Zealand in 1965 - most boundaries by a batsman in a Test inning. Edrich also hit the very first boundary in One-Day International cricket in 1971.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 25, 2020 09:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).