England v South Africa: Mike Procter generation denied chance to rule the world As a consequence the world was denied the sight of Procter galloping in off a run up so long it started in a different postcode, sending down a succession of screamingly impossible fast balls via his wholly unique, square-on action. "I remember the first time I saw it on television I couldn't believe it," he says of his full-chested delivery. I thought: who's that. You'd never get away with an action like mine these days. You'd have coaches all over you telling you it was no way to bowl fast. But bowl fast Procter did, terrifyingly so. And together with Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards, he was part of a lost generation of South Africans who were denied the opportunity to rule the world. The remarkable thing is that he is not bitter about missing out. "You ask am I envious of these guys playing today," he says. And the answer is: not at all. When Dolly [Basil D'Oliveira] played for England I thought it was fantastic. The fact he couldn't play for South Africa because the government wouldn't let him just highlighted how ridiculous the system was. So I was really pleased he got international cricket. Far from being resentful about his time in exile, Procter believes it was inevitable. When the Rest of South Africa played the Currie Cup winners in 1970, we players all walked off the field in Cape Town in protest against the South African government policies. We made our position very clear. There was an inevitability about it. We knew the system had to change. It was right what happened [with the boycott]. If it was going to improve the life of 40 million people then so be it. The end of apartheid had to be brought about. Whatever it took. The day Nelson Mandela was released was one of the happiest of my life. The "95 Rugby World Cup, the country coming together, that was just fantastic. It was all we wanted. And when South Africa were restored to their place at the high table of world cricket, Procter, who now lives in Durban, did his bit to help the cause. He was chairman of Test selectors until relieved of his post after the last visit to England, when the tourists drew 1-1. They also sacked the coach, Mickey Arthur. And look where he is now: coaching the Aussies. You have to wonder at their judgment," he says of the South African board. Indeed, while he has supported the efforts of the body to evangelise the sport across the country, he is not so happy with some of their other initiatives. One thing I didn't like was when they tried at one point to get the country's Test history removed from the record books. I would surmise their argument was that since the teams during apartheid were not selected from the whole of society, they were not representative of the country. The Test numbers the players wear on their shirts, for instance, they start from 1991. I have no problem with that. But I thought the attempt to remove our records from the books wasn't necessary. Happily the MCC was having none of it and it didn't get too far. We white players didn't want to speak up about it because it was so sensitive it felt like we were treading on eggshells. I believe history is important. That's what makes Lord's such a fantastic place. The boards, the pictures, the history. Not that I feature on any of them: I never played a Test there. Nor did he play at the Oval, where he will be on Thursday to witness what he calls "the world heavyweight championship of Test cricket." He is excited about the prospect of two such evenly matched sides squaring up, delighted at the thought of watching Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith and Dale Steyn try to wrest the title of No 1 Test team from the English. But most of all he is thrilled that his beloved South Africa are these days an integral part of world sport. Because it was not like that in his day. To book Mike Procter as an event speaker go to www.championsukplc.com