Derek Leslie Underwood (8 June 1945 – 15 April 2024) was an English international

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. In retirement he became president of the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) in 2008. Through much of his career, Underwood was regarded as one of the best bowlers in Test cricket. Although classified as a slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler, Underwood bowled at around medium pace. He was often unplayable on seaming English wickets, particularly

sticky wicket Sticky wicket (or sticky dog, or glue pot) is a metaphor used to describe a difficult circumstance. It originated as a term for difficult circumstances in the sport of cricket, caused by a damp and soft wicket. In cricket The phrase comes from ...

s, earning his nickname 'Deadly'. Underwood was a first-class bowler from his teens and took his 100th Test wicket and 1,000th first-class wicket in 1971, aged only 25. Only George Lohmann and Wilfred Rhodes had secured a thousand wickets at an earlier age. 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 the

ICC Cricket Hall of Fame The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises "the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history". It was launched by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Dubai on 2 January 2009, in association with the Fe ...

Early life and county career

Underwood was born in Bromley Maternity Hospital, the second son of Leslie Frank Underwood and Evelyn Annie Wells. 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.Crofton & Barlett, 2004, p. 6 Underwood was educated at Beckenham 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, against Bromley Grammar School. Underwood played county cricket for

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, making his first-class debut against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

aged 17 in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

. He became the youngest player to take 100

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

wickets in a debut season. 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. He remained at Kent for 24 years, the whole of his first-class career. Underwood made his only first-class century for Kent against Sussex in 1984 aged 39, having batted as a nightwatchman.

Test career

Underwood took the last four

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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 an Ashes series that Australia were winning 1–0. He was named in 1969 as one of the ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year. Underwood also toured Australia in 1970–71, dismissing Terry Jenner to win the seventh Test at

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, and regain

the Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, ...

. According to the retrospective ICC 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 the 1971 series. He was England's leading wicket taker with spin. Underwood was noted for his consistent accuracy, and his inswinging

arm ball An arm ball is a type of delivery in cricket. It is a variation delivery bowled by an off spin bowler or slow left-arm orthodox bowler. It is the finger spin equivalent of a wrist spinner's ''slider'' or ''zooter''. In contrast to the sto ...

was particularly noted for dismissing batsmen

leg before wicket Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a Batting (cricket), batter can be dismissal (cricket), dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an Appeal (cricket), appeal by the Fielding (cricket), fielding side, the umpire (cricket), ...

. Keith Dunstan wrote that he was "inclined to wear a hole in the pitch by dropping the ball on the same spot ...". Underwood used to say that bowling was a "low mentality profession: plug away, line and length, until there's a mistake", and sooner or later every batsman would make a mistake.

World Series Cricket and rebel South African tour

Underwood was one of six England cricketers (the others being

John Snow John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology and early germ theory, in part because of hi ...

, Alan Knott, Dennis Amiss, Bob Woolmer and

Tony Greig Anthony William Greig (6 October 194629 December 2012) was a South African-born cricketer and commentator. Greig qualified to play for the England cricket team by virtue of his Scottish father. He was a tall () all-rounder who bowled both ...

), to feature in

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

World Series Cricket World Series Cricket (WSC) was a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 which was organised by Kerry Packer and his Australian television network, Nine Network. WSC ran in commercial competition to established ...

in the late 1970s. He also went on the rebel tour South Africa in 1981–82, bringing his England career to an end as it was in defiance of the sporting ban against the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

state. For this he and the other rebels were banned from international cricket for three years.

Later career

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. 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 at

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, a favourite bowling haunt for Underwood who, having gone in to bat as nightwatchman, 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". Underwood retired from cricket in 1987, at the age of 42, having taken 2,465 wickets at a little over 20 apiece.

Recognition

Underwood was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 1981 New Year Honours for services to cricket. In 1997, he became patron of the Primary Club, and in 2008 it was announced that he would serve as president of MCC for the following year. In a ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' article in 2004, he was selected as a member of England's greatest

post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

XI. Underwood was appointed an

honorary fellow Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

Canterbury Christ Church University Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) is a Public university, public research university located in Canterbury, Kent, England. Founded as a Church of England college for teacher training in 1962, it was granted university status in 2005. ...

at a ceremony held at

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

on 30 January 2009.

Personal life

Underwood married Dawn Sullivan in October 1973 and they had two daughters. Underwood became a consultant for ClubTurf Cricket Limited, joining his brother Keith who had become managing director. On 15 April 2024, Underwood died from complications of dementia at the age of 78. Richard Thompson, chair of the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

, 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."

Publications

References

External links

*
Sunday Times article 31 May, 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Underwood, Derek 1945 births 2024 deaths Deaths from dementia England One Day International cricketers England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1969 to 2000 20th-century English sportsmen English cricketers Kent cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year World Series Cricket players International Cavaliers cricketers Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup Cricketers from the London Borough of Bromley People from Bromley People educated at Beckenham and Penge County Grammar School Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Presidents of Kent County Cricket Club D. H. Robins' XI cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Under-25s cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI cricketers Members of the Order of the British Empire