Peter Samuel Heine, who died in Pretoria on February 4 aged 76, formed a renowned fast bowling partnership for South Africa with Neil Adcock. He played in 14 Test matches, spread over almost seven years, 12 of which were in tandem with Adcock. Peter Pollock, who later formed a similarly feared new-ball partnership with Mike Procter, said: "Adcock was quicker but Heine put the heat into the combination." Adcock said that he and Heine were good friends. "We would have a few drinks together in the evenings and work out which one of us would knock over which batsman. He was very aggressive on the field, with a big heart, but meek and mild off it." Stories of his aggression were numerous. After felling Peter Richardson, the England opener, during the 1956-57 series, he allegedly said: "Get up, I want to hit you again." Heine only started playing cricket at the age of 19 when, working as a fireman in Pietermaritzburg, he was pressed into playing for the fire department. "You are big and strong so you can open the bowling," he was told. He was also a hard-hitting lower-order batsman who hit a straight six off Hugh Tayfield which was reported to have carried a world record 180 yards in a match between Orange Free State and Natal in Bloemfontein in 1954-55. It was a massive hit, although subsequent research reduced the estimated distance by between 20 and 30 yards. He made his debut in the second Test at Lord's in 1955, taking 5 for 60 in the first innings. His victims were Graveney, May, Compton, Barrington and Evans. Another five-wicket haul followed at Old Trafford, where he and Adcock shared 14 wickets in a South African win. When England toured South Africa in 1956-57, arguably Heine's most telling contribution to a shared series was made before the Test matches when Transvaal played the tourists at the new Wanderers Stadium at Johannesburg. He dismissed Peter May for a first-ball duck after May had started the tour with four successive centuries. John Waite, the Transvaal and South African wicketkeeper, had noted that English batsmen tended to play according to the angle of delivery. Heine bowled from wide and May, assuming the ball would be angled in, edged an out-swinger to Waite. May went on to have a mediocre Test series.
Colin Bryden, The Wisden Cricketer

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Peter Heine bowling © The Cricketer International

Peter Heine © The Cricketer International

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