 Underwood in 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Derek Leslie Underwood | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1945-06-08)8 June 1945 Bromley, Kent, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 15 April 2024(2024-04-15) (aged 78) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Deadly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Slow left arm orthodox Left armmedium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Bowler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 433) | 30 June 1966 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 17 February 1982 v Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 20) | 18 July 1973 v New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 14 February 1982 v Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1963–1987 | Kent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:CricInfo,25 March 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derek Leslie UnderwoodMBE (8 June 1945 – 15 April 2024) was an English internationalcricketer. In retirement he became president of theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 2008.
Through much of his career, Underwood was regarded as one of the bestbowlers in Test cricket. Although classified as a slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler, Underwood bowled at aroundmedium pace. He was often unplayable on seaming English wickets, particularlysticky wickets, earning his nickname 'Deadly'.
Underwood was afirst-class bowler from his teens and took his 100th Test wicket and 1,000th first-class wicket in 1971, aged only 25. OnlyGeorge Lohmann andWilfred Rhodes had secured a thousand wickets at an earlier age.[1] His England career ended when he went on the rebel tour to South Africa, finishing his Test career with 297 wickets.
On 16 July 2009, Underwood was inducted into theICC Cricket Hall of Fame.[2]
Underwood was born in Bromley Maternity Hospital, the second son of Leslie Frank Underwood and Evelyn Annie Wells.[3] His early days were spent watching his father, a right-arm medium pace bowler, play for Farnborough Cricket Club, where elder brother Keith also played.[3] Underwood was educated atBeckenham and Penge Grammar School for Boys and in 1961 he took all ten wickets for the school's first XI, of which his brother was the captain, againstBromley Grammar School.[3]
Underwood played county cricket forKent, making hisfirst-class debut againstYorkshire aged 17 in1963. He became the youngest player to take 100County Championship wickets in a debut season.[1] He went on to take 100 wickets in a season a further nine times. His batting was less accomplished, averaging barely over ten runs per innings in 676 matches.[4] He remained at Kent for 24 years, the whole of his first-class career.[5]
Underwood made his only first-class century for Kent against Sussex in 1984 aged 39, having batted as a nightwatchman.[5]
Underwood took the last fourAustralian wickets in 27 balls in the final half an hour at the end of the fifth Test in 1968, after a heavy thunderstorm on the fifth day had all but ended the match, to square anAshes series that Australia were winning 1–0.[1] He was named in 1969 as one of theWisden Cricketers of the Year. Underwood also touredAustralia in 1970–71, dismissingTerry Jenner to win the seventh Test atSydney, and regainthe Ashes.[4]
According to the retrospectiveICC Test bowler rankings, Underwood was ranked number 1 in the world from September 1969 to August 1973. He reached a peak rating of 907 after his 12-wicket haul against New Zealand in the1971 series.[6] He was England's leading wicket taker with spin.[5]
Underwood was noted for his consistent accuracy, and his inswingingarm ball was particularly noted for dismissing batsmenleg before wicket.Keith Dunstan wrote that he was "inclined to wear a hole in the pitch by dropping the ball on the same spot ...".[7]
Underwood used to say that bowling was a "low mentality profession: plug away, line and length, until there's a mistake",[8] and sooner or later every batsman would make a mistake.
Underwood was one of six England cricketers (the others beingJohn Snow,Alan Knott,Dennis Amiss,Bob Woolmer andTony Greig), to feature inKerry Packer'sWorld Series Cricket in the late 1970s.[9]
He also went on therebel tour South Africa in 1981–82, bringing his England career to an end as it was in defiance of the sporting ban against theapartheid state. For this he and the other rebels were banned from international cricket for three years.[10]
Underwood was almost unplayable on damp wickets, but on dry tracks he would often push the ball through a little quicker and flatter, not wanting to risk being hit over his head, which he always hated.[1]
At the age of 39, he scored his first and only first-class century (111), in his 591st first-class match in July 1984. It was played atHastings, a favourite bowling haunt for Underwood who, having gone in to bat asnightwatchman, finally reached the hundred mark in his 618th first-class innings. The cricket writer Colin Bateman noted, "there was no more popular century that summer".[1]
Underwood retired from cricket in 1987, at the age of 42, having taken 2,465 wickets at a little over 20 apiece.[1]
Underwood was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the1981 New Year Honours for services to cricket.[11]
In 1997, he became patron of thePrimary Club, and in 2008 it was announced that he would serve as president of MCC for the following year.[12]
In aWisden article in 2004, he was selected as a member of England's greatestpost-war XI.[13]
Underwood was appointed anhonorary fellow ofCanterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony held atCanterbury Cathedral on 30 January 2009.[14]
Underwood married Dawn Sullivan in October 1973 and they had two daughters.[15]
Underwood became a consultant for ClubTurf Cricket Limited, joining his brother Keith who had become managing director.[16]
On 15 April 2024, Underwood died from complications of dementia at the age of 78.[6][5][17][18]Richard Thompson, chair of theEngland and Wales Cricket Board, said that "Underwood will be remembered as one of the finest spin bowlers this country has ever produced, and his remarkable record is testament to his enduring skill."[5]
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