John Hugh Edrich, MBE (21 June 1937 – 23 December 2020) was an English first-class cricketer who, during a career that ran from 1956 to 1978,[1] was considered one of the best batsmen of his generation.

He was renowned for playing the cut, the cover drive and scoring off his legs, earning over the years a reputation for dogged fearlessness.

[4] A player during the time when One Day International cricket was in its infancy, he played, and top scored, in the first ever ODI match.

[5] The cricket writer Colin Bateman described him as "unflinching, unselfish, and often unsmiling while going about his business in the middle, he was a fiercely formidable opener who knew his limitations and worked wonderfully within them".

Over the next four years he and Micky Stewart became a very effective opening partnership for the county, to the extent that both were called up for England for the Test series against the West Indies, who were dominating the sport at this time.

Despite Edrich's strong performances for his county, he managed a total of only 108 Test runs in six innings facing bowlers including Hall, Sobers and Griffith.

However, an opportunity to break back into the international side arose when Geoffrey Boycott was injured during Australia's tour of England in 1964.

at the time said that he might have broken the existing Test record of 365 within another 90 minutes or so if his captain, Mike Smith, had not felt it necessary to declare the innings closed.

[citation needed] However, a week later during the First Test against South Africa, he suffered a blow to the head from a short-pitched delivery by Peter Pollock.

By now, Stewart had dropped down the order to number three, and Edrich had formed another successful opening partnership with Mike Edwards.

In the first Test a ball from aggressive pace bowler Dennis Lillee struck his hand and broke it, although he was able to continue batting.

[13] In the summer of 2000, it was announced that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of incurable leukaemia known as Waldenstrom's, and he was told that he had seven years to live.