Mike Hendrick, former England and Derbyshire bowler, dies aged 72 | Cricket

Former England and Derbyshire seamer Mike Hendrick has died at the age of 72, the county have announced. The cricketer had been been battling bowel cancer in recent years.

A fast-medium paceman who also played for Nottinghamshire, Hendrick took 87 wickets for England in 30 Tests between 1974 and 1981 at an average of 25.83. He was a prominent member of two Ashes-winning sides and also appeared in 22 one-day internationals, including the 1979 World Cup final.

Regarded as one of the finest new-ball bowlers of an era in which there was plenty of competition, he took 770 wickets throughout his first-class career.

A statement read: “Derbyshire County Cricket Club is deeply saddened by the news of the death of Mike Hendrick, one of the county’s finest post-war cricketers.”

Hendrick played for Leicestershire at Second XI level as a teenager but was let go by the county and moved to Derbyshire, where he made his first-team debut in 1969. He made his England Test debut against India at Old Trafford in 1974 and recorded his best figures of four for 28 at Edgbaston in that same series later that summer.

Renowned for his accuracy and his command of seam movement, he won the Ashes with England in 1977 and 1978-79. He did not record a five-wicket haul in his Test career but his figures of four for 41 and four for 54 in the Headingley Test of 1977 – a match better remember for Geoff Boycott’s 100th first-class hundred – were crucial in clinching the series.

Hendrick also played in the first and last Tests of the 1981 series win over Australia, with the latter being his final cap. He was not selected again after joining a rebel tour of South Africa in 1981-82.

He also won the NatWest Trophy with Derbyshire in 1981 before playing out the final years of his career at Nottinghamshire and retiring in 1984.

A tweet from the England and Wales Cricket Board read: “The ECB is sad to learn of the death of former DerbyshireCCC, TrentBridge and England international Mike Hendrick. Our thoughts at this time are with his family and friends.”