da esoccer bet： Farewell to a fine bowler who beat the bat more often than seemed reasonable, and came close to winning England the 1979 World Cup
da dobrowin： Mark Nicholas29-Jul-2021Another one has gone: heroes all, but the class of ’81 are four short now of the 20 who represented England in six Ashes Test matches that summer. Exactly 40 years after the series, which became so widely known as Botham’s Ashes, Mike Hendrick has died of bowel and liver cancer. “Hendo” suffered awhile but never thought much of self-pity. His dry, midland wit remained intact to the end: “I’m in the departure lounge,” he said to Mike Atherton a month or so ago, “but the flight hasn’t left yet.”Atherton was talking to Hendrick for a fine piece in the that remembered and celebrated the men of that golden month in 1981 when England wrestled back consecutive Test matches from improbable positions and slam-dunked a third to secure the urn. Bob Willis, Graham Dilley and Bob Woolmer have already flown. Now the doors are closed and Hendrick is on his way to join them. He said to Atherton how players such as Geoffrey Boycott and David Gower stayed in touch throughout the period of his illness. “I have so many fond memories but rarely do they involve the wickets I took, more the team-mates and dressing rooms I played in. It was a special time.”At Willis’ passing, Paul Allott was by his side. They held hands as Bob Dylan’s “Positively 4th Street” accompanied Willis from this life to the next. For his article Atherton spoke to most of the players, some of whom, like Hendrick, played bit parts; others, like Botham, stole the show. Mike Brearley was recalled after Botham was sacked from the captaincy, and Brearley worked his magic, which, in essence, was to get the mighty allrounder back on course. The affection they have for one another remains to this day. “It’s curious isn’t it,” mused Brearley, “You go through something together. It’s an arduous thing, a Test match or a Test series. It can be an anxious, nervous time and if it goes well, you experience great elation together. It’s the sporting equivalent of falling in love in some ways. I see my old team-mates now and find we start making the same jokes from 40 years ago as if it were yesterday.” Such bonds cannot be broken.Related
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Hendrick played the first and last Tests of the series, thus missing the heady drama that captivated the nation. In the first Test, at Trent Bridge, he had Allan Border dropped by Paul Downton, and somehow both men then lost their places for it. The invitation for Hendrick to play again, which came from the Test and County Cricket Board and was posted to Derbyshire County Cricket Club – as was the tradition of the day – and intercepted by the Derbyshire secretary at the request of the chairman of selectors, who had changed his mind overnight upon hearing that Willis had recovered from illness. You’d call that unlucky.As you would his bowling, which beat the bat more often that was reasonable. He bowled a perfect line and length at a strong, bouncy fast-medium pace and hit the seam with legendary consistency, often admitting that he didn’t know which way it would go – “Which isn’t a bad thing, because if I don’t know, the batsman sure doesn’t either!” The general view was that the endless jaffas he propelled at mystified opponents were a tad too short to find the edge of the bat. As each was gloved by Bob Taylor, Hendo’s hangdog expression would lengthen with the shadows of the day.On occasions he was unplayable, not least after he had left Derbyshire in 1981 to join Nottinghamshire. Clive Rice, the no-nonsense South African whose captaincy helped to secure the Championship title for Notts in the early 1980s, demanded green pitches at Trent Bridge so that his seam attack of Richard Hadlee, the Kevins Cooper and Saxelby, Rice himself and Hendo could do their worst. Hampshire were bowled out for 70 and 56 there in 1982: Hadlee took 7 for 25 in the first innings and Hendo 5 for 21 in the second. Between them, they took 15 for 81 the match, and really, I don’t know how we made the 81. I do, though, remember the endless playing and missing, or should I say groping in the dark, which eventually became almost funny.
An insight into a legendary career.
In his last recorded interview, Mike Hendrick looked back at his time with #DCCC.
Full interview https://t.co/vbA73i7jia pic.twitter.com/4MqeYqNZsS
— Derbyshire CCC (@DerbyshireCCC) July 27, 2021