Derek Pringle: 15 things about the Essex gentle giant
Derek Pringle: 15 things about the Essex gentle giant
It was difficult being Derek Raymond Pringle, born September 18, 1958, for he had to fight for the England all-rounder’s spot with Ian Botham, no less. Even then, watching Pringle run through sides with prodigous swing and awkward bounce was a spectacle to watch, as was his solid batting down the order (Matthew Engel called him the “most fluent undergraduate strokemaker”) — something that he pulled off for Essex but not for England. From 30 Tests Pringle scored 695 runs at 15 and captured 70 wickets at 36. His First-Class numbers (9,243 runs at 28 and 761 wickets at 27 from 295 matches) make far better reading. Abhishek Mukherjee lists 15 things about the gentle giant from Essex.
1. Kenyan cluster
Only three Test cricketers were born in Kenya (all in Nairobi). Surprisingly, they were born within a span of only 20 months: Qasim Umar (February 9, 1957), Derek Pringle (September 18, 1958), and Dipak Patel (October 25, 1958). They ended up playing for different countries.
The other Test cricketers born in Africa (but outside South Africa or Zimbabwe) are Fish Markham (Swaziland), David Ironside (Mozambique), John Traicos (Egypt), and the trio of Phil Edmonds, Neal Radford, and Henry Olonga (all Zambia).
2. Father and son
Lancashire-born Donald James Pringle played 2 ODIs for East Africa in World Cup 1975 without any success. Unfortunately, he passed away in a car crash near Nairobi less than four months of his last ODI. He was returning from a match where he had taken 6 for 16.
When his son Derek filled in for the injured Ian Botham in World Cup 1987, they became the first father-son pair to play World Cup cricket.
3. Schoolboy prodigy
Pringle went to Felsted School, where his talent was recognised immediately. He was selected for a tour of India by English Schools Cricket Association. He pulled off 122* and 6 for 65 against North Zone, and won the third ‘Test’ against India Schools with 4 for 39, 56, and 3 for 21.
4. A bizarre ritual
As Pringle grew in stature, his pre-bowling rituals became a spectacle — to the extent that they applauded whenever the ball was tossed to him. The ritual looked so bizarre that they referred to it as “lying on his back wrestling an invisible octopus”.
5. Swinging nickname
Pringle’s out-swinger became famous in the English county circuit. He moved the ball away very late, almost luring batsmen into driving them, and making them produce edges. He was, rather predictably, referred to as ‘Pring the Swing’.
6. Unusual First-Class debut
Pringle went to Fitzwilliam College. Cambridge recognised his talent immediately. He made his First-Class debut at 19 — but it came against Cambridge, for he was good enough to play for Essex as well. He played at Fenner’s (was it a home match for him or an away match?) and impressed with 50 not out.
7. Injured while writing letters
Pringle was assigned the task of sorting out the complimentary passes for the England vs Pakistan Test of 1982 (a famous duel between Botham and Imran Khan where England won by 3 wickets).
In the process he leaned on the backrest of the chair (something I — shudder, shudder — do quite often); the chair collapsed, and Pringle picked up a shoulder injury. Unfortunately for him, Bernard Thomas spread news that Pringle had injured himself while writing letters…
8. Imbalanced ring
Pringle donned an earring, and was possibly the first England international cricketer to do so (this was in the 1980s). This confused and scandalised a lot of people, but none more than a former legend. Graeme Fowler told BBC: “I remember Derek Pringle being told to take his earring out in a Test because Chairman of Selectors Alec Bedser said it would affect his balance at the crease.”
9. Life of Brian
Pringle slammed 127 and 73* against Glamorgan in early 1982. Unfortunately, so obscure was he at that time that a newspaper report named him ‘Brian’ Pringle. He made his Test debut later that year.
10. Silver screen
Remember Hugh Hudson’s magnum opus Chariots of Fire? The movie went on to win four Academy Awards along with three at BAFTA and two at Cannes, among others. Pringle turned up for the auditions in his Cambridge Blue blazer, and earned the role of the captain of Cambridge University Athletics team.
He was given £10, a free haircut, but no credits. You cannot have everything in life, after all.
11. Gujranwala massacre
As mentioned above, with Derek’s debut, Don and Derek became the first father-son pair to play World Cup cricket. It turned out to be a disaster for Pringle, for the West Indians smashed him to pulp. Mike Gatting gave him his full quota, and Pringle conceded 83 from 10 overs — then a world record for most runs conceded in an ODI.
Thankfully, Derek’s record did not last beyond four days. Viv Richards massacred Sri Lanka with 181 at Karachi: Ashantha de Mel took the worst toll, conceding 97 off 10.
12. Smothering World champions
Pakistan won World Cup 1992, but they could not master Pringle in any of the matches. He had figures of 8.2-5-8-3 in the abandoned league match and 10-2-22-3 in the final. His figures against Pakistan in the tournament read 6 for 30 from 18.2 overs; against other nations he had 1 for 188 from 48.2.
13. Lata Mangeshkar!
Pringle’s love for music is well-known. It was apt that he was asked to pick a track for the 2006 anniversary compilation for Rough Trade Records. He chose I Wanna Destroy You by The Soft Boys. He is also a fan of Lana Del Ray and American band Felice Brothers.
However, there is another favourite singer of his — probably not someone you expect. As he told Subash Jayaraman in an interview for ESPNCricinfo: “I quite like some Hindi film tracks — Lata Mangeshkar, I like her.”
14. Never buckle down
Pringle worked as a correspondent for The Independent and The Telegraph. While covering England’s tour of Zimbabwe in 2004-05 he was asked to sign a declaration that he would cover nothing but cricket. Pringle refused, knowing well that he might be deported.
15. O man!
Pringle worked as a technical advisor for Oman when they prepared for the ICC World T20 Qualifiers 2015. Pankaj Khamji, Director of Oman Cricket Club had requested him to help the players get acclimated to British conditions. Oman qualified.
(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor of CricketCountry and CricLife. He tweets at @ovshake42.)