Former South Africa all-rounder Mike Procter has been admitted to the ICU after falling seriously ill, his family stated. Procter's international playing career with South Africa was cut short in 1970 when his country was excluded from world cricket because of its apartheid government.

He played 7 Tests for South Africa, taking 41 wickets at an average of 15.02 runs. He was also a very good batter and equaled a world batting record when he hit six first-class centuries in successive innings.

His six successive centuries were made for the then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) between 1970 and 1971, culminating in a career-best 254 against Western Province.

When South Africa was readmitted to international cricket in 1992, Procter became coach of the international side and led them to the 1992 Cricket World Cup semi-finals.

Procter played first-class cricket for 16 years, including 14 seasons with English county Gloucestershire, five of them as captain, where he achieved legendary status.

In a statement passed to AFP by Procter's charitable foundation, his wife Maryna and two daughters, said that he was being treated in a hospital near his hometown, the Indian Ocean city of Durban.

"Last week Mike experienced a complication during routine surgery. While recovering in ICU he suffered a cardiac incident. He is currently in ICU working on his recovery. We would appreciate it if you kept him in your thoughts and prayers," it said.

Procter scored 21,082 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 36.92, hitting 47 centuries, and took 1,357 wickets at an average of 19.07 runs.