Geoffrey Arthur Edrich was born in Lingwood

Lingwood and Burlingham

Lingwood and Burlingham is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, comprising the large village of Lingwood together with the smaller villages of Burlingham Green, North Burlingham and South Burlingham...

, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, on 13 July 1918.
He was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 cricketer

Cricketer

A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....

 who played 339 first-class

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 matches for Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...

 between 1946 and 1958 as a right-handed batsman. Before his first-class career, he had played minor counties cricket for Norfolk (1937-1939), and after his first-class retirement he returned to the minor counties, this time playing for Cumberland (1960-1962).http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/12620.html Whilst at Cumberland, he was also professional for Workington, the Cumbrian club appearing in the North Lancashire League.http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/news/obituaries/a-stalwart-cricketer-with-plenty-of-guts-1.373956?referrerPath=news/obituaries

He captained Lancashire to a win over Leicestershire at Old Trafford in 1956 in a match in which his team did not lose a single wicket, the first time this had happened. Leicestershire were bowled out for 108 and 122, and Lancashire (166 for 0 dec and 66 for 0) won by ten wickets. Geoff Edrich was listed at no. 3 in the batting order so didn't get to bat.

Geoff Edrich's three brothers, Brian

Brian Edrich

Brian Robert Edrich was an English cricketer. He was a left-handed middle-order batsman and a right-arm off break bowler. He also acted as assistant coach of Glamorgan. Born in Cantley, Norfolk, he died at Padstow in Cornwall, aged 86...

, Eric

Eric Edrich

Eric Harry Edrich was an English cricketer. Born in Lingwood, Norfolk, Edrich played in 36 first-class matches for Lancashire as a wicketkeeper between 1946 and 1948, before becoming a farmer. His three brothers, Brian, Geoff and Bill, and also his cousin, John Edrich, all played first-class...

 and Bill

Bill Edrich

William John "Bill" Edrich DFC was a distinguished cricketer who played for Middlesex, MCC, Norfolk and England.Edrich's three brothers, Brian, Eric and Geoff, and also his cousin, John, all played first-class cricket...

, and also his cousin, John Edrich

John Edrich

John Edrich, MBE is a former English cricketer, who played for Surrey and England. He earned a reputation as a dogged and fearless batsman, and his figures show that he was amongst the best players of his generation...

, all played first-class cricket. Though, unlike his brother Bill and cousin John, Geoff Edrich never played for England, he toured India in 1953/54 with a Commonwealth squad.http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/news/obituaries/a-stalwart-cricketer-with-plenty-of-guts-1.373956?referrerPath=news/obituaries

Sergeant Geoff Edrich survived three years' captivity in a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese prisoner of war

Prisoner of war

A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

 camp, during the Second World War, including a stint on the infamous Burma Railway.

He died on 2 January 2004, aged 85.