Following the story on popular news website News24, a family friend verified to AFP—speaking anonymously—that Procter was “in a very serious condition.”
According to News24, which cited a statement from Procter’s wife Maryna and two kids, he is receiving treatment at the uMhlanga Hospital, which is located close to the eastern city of Durban.
“Last week, during a normal surgical procedure, Mike encountered an issue. He had a cardiac event in the ICU while he was getting better. It stated, “He is presently working on his recovery in the intensive care unit.”
When South Africa was banned from the World Cricket Association in 1970 due to its apartheid regime, Procter’s playing career ended there.
Of the seven Test matches he participated in before to the ban, six were won by South Africa against Australia.
His main claim to fame was as a devastating fast bowler, having claimed 41 wickets in seven Test matches at an average of 15.02 runs.
However, he was also a flashy batter who tied a world batting record by hitting six consecutive hundreds in a first-class match.
Procter took over as the team’s coach after South Africa reestablished itself as a democracy and resumed playing international cricket, helping them advance to the 1992 Cricket World Cup semifinals.
Procter spent sixteen years playing first-class cricket, including fourteen of those years as captain of the English county Gloucestershire, where he became a legendary figure.
He spent the majority of his cricket career with his birth province, Natal, in South Africa.
Between 1970 and 1971, he scored six consecutive hundreds for the then-Republic of Rhodesia, the most notable of which was a career-best 254 against Western Province.
In first-class cricket, he amassed 21,082 runs at an average of 36.92, hit 47 hundreds, and claimed 1,357 wickets at 19.07 runs per wicket.
