Devon Cricket Board - Procter rejoins Budleigh Salterton

Procter rejoins Budleigh Salterton

BUDLEIGH Salterton have been given a sizeable boost for the season ahead by the return to Ottermouth of former captain and Devon regular Andy Procter.
Procter (pictured) is the only captain at the club to lift the Premier Division title, which he did in 2006.
With Steve Spoljaric scoring 741 runs and taking 42 wickets, plus contributions from Bob Dawson (479 runs/27 wkts) and James Beeney (297 runs), Budleigh finished 11 points clear of Paignton at the top of the table.
Procter, 45, hasn't played since 2008 due to work commitments and a shoulder injury but is now back training in preparation for the season ahead.
Getting Procter back at Budleigh was a priority of new skipper Lloyd White when he was confirmed as Joel Murphy’s replacement before Christmas.
Said White: “When I first got got the nod as captain, Andy was one of the first players I approached and enquired as to whether he still had the passion to play?
“I mentioned it to him about four or five months ago and I guess the seed was planted then.
“I approached Andy again about a month ago and he started coming along to training and instantly made an impact.
“I think he got a wicket in his first over back in training and the whole of the team just looked around and thought ‘he's back!’
“The knowledge he can pass on to not only myself as captain but for the rest of the senior squad will be inevitable.
“He is the kind of player that can just come back into the game after a spell and take off where he left.
“He has certainly showed in training that he's still got the magic and with both bat and ball.
“He is an absolute top bloke and I am over the moon he is retuning to the club. Andy and the whole squad just can't wait to get going now.”
Procter’s first full season in the Devon League was 1996 when he took 34 wickets for Exmouth.
At the time he was serving in the Royal Marines and had played representative cricket for the Corps, the Navy and the Combined Services, which included a tour to Zimbabwe and South Africa in 1998 and a mini-tour to Denmark the same year.
He played in Cornwall for St Buryan (2002) after the Exmouth team that won eight Premier titles in the 1990s broke up, then switched to Budleigh Salterton in 2003.
Procter’s 578 runs and 36 wickets helped Budleigh to promotion as A Division runners-up… behind Exmouth as champions.
Devon first picked Procter in 1996 for a one-off game against Herefordshire. He became a regular in the side from 2000, playing 41 Minor Counties games up to 2008 and taking 172 wickets.
He made 27 appearances in the one-day KO Cup between 2000-2008, collecting 39 wickets.
Procter’s last appearances for Devon in both forms of the game were finals: the 2007 Championship win over Buckinghamshire at Exmouth and the 2008 KO Cup victory over Berkshire at Lord’s.
England selected Procter for their Board XI – and he represented the Minor Counties XI too.
Budleigh continue pre-season training at the University of Exeter on February 24 (6-8pm) and every Tuesday from then on until April.

DCB Ltd, University of Exeter Sports Hall, Stocker Road, Exeter, Devon EX4 4QN Company Registration Number: 7024773