Hero was no Bland fielder

It was with considerable sadness that I heard of Colin Bland’s death at the age of 80. He is undoubtedly one of my cricketing heroes.

While still living in England I first heard of his legendary fielding exploits during Mike Smith’s England tour here in 1964-65. When SA toured England in the summer of 1965, Bland enhanced his reputation with a spectacular fielding display in the Lord’s Test.

Sadly, by the time I arrived in SA Bland had badly injured his knee chasing a ball to the boundary, I think in the first Wanderers Test against the Aussies at the end of 1966. Although I saw him once more, playing for Rhodesia against Transvaal, the magic had somewhat diminished.

Bland was an incredibly dedicated cricketing athlete in the early days. Tall and immensely quick but graceful too, he was fantastic to watch as he patrolled the covers or occasionally the midwicket area. He had a fantastic arm and, so the story goes, in an exhibition he once threw a cricket ball about 150 yards, which made him the unofficial holder of the world record.

Incidentally, before SA’s game with Kent at Canterbury on that 1965 tour, Kent captain Colin Cowdrey insisted on Bland putting on a fielding exhibition for the assembled crowd.

Never before had English cricket experienced anything like it. He was a pioneer as a fielder and not only the world’s best when he first came to prominence, but the best there had been up to that point. No one has surpassed him since.

Julian Denny

Benmore