Famous Cricketers No 85 - Derek Underwood

He returned to have another good English season with 136 wickets and two Test appearances against Pakistan taking five wickets in an innings at Trent Bridge where Alan Knott made his debut, to mark the beginning of a most productive Test combination. A tour to India and Ceylon followed in the following spring where Underwood had a phenomenal success when he took twenty-four wickets in just two matches for an International XI. In 1968 Underwood’s bowling finally came of age when he played an important part in England’s dramatic win at Kennington Oval by 226 runs in the fifth and final Test match which squared the rubber against Australia. The famous old ground had been literally under water by 2.15 pm. after a torrential downpour but with valuable assistance from the crowd the outfield was successfully mopped up and play resumed at 4.45 pm. With thirty-five minutes left and Australia six wickets down Cowdrey recalled ‘Deadly’ Underwood and his left-arm medium bowling proved unplayable as he took the last four wickets in twenty-seven balls for six runs. His final innings analysis was 7-50. He finished the season with 123 first-class wickets and his performances during the summer earned him a place as one of Wisden ’s Five Cricketers of the Year in the 1969 edition. A tour to Pakistan followed in which he took twenty wickets altogether in six matches. The Test series was marred by political upheaval and the final Test had to be abandoned. Derek had a most successful Test match record in the following season taking thirty wickets in five games against the touring West Indians and New Zealanders. This included eleven wickets in the Lord’s game versus New Zealand. His seasonal total was again 101, coincidentally the third time he had taken this precise number in his seven seasons in the game. Short tours to the West Indies with both Rothman’s Cavaliers and the Duke of Norfolk’s XI followed in the winter and he returned to play an important part in Kent’s winning of the County Championship in 1970, the first time they had achieved the feat since 1913. In the winter of 1970/71 Underwood made his first trip to Australia and helped Ray Illingworth’s side to regain the Ashes. He had great success in the New Zealand section of the tour taking seventeen wickets in the two Test matches. Further Test match appearances came in 1971 and 1972 and Underwood had by this time established himself as one of England’s foremost bowlers. He became a reliable nightwatchman for England and often was able to bat on for some time on the following day to frustrate the opposition. Another tour to the sub-continent in 1972/73 saw him take eighteen Test match wickets in six matches against India and Pakistan. Derek Underwood had a poorish season by his standards in 1973 in which he failed to take fifty wickets for the first time. He married his wife Dawn in October 1973. There were two daughters of the marriage, Heather and Fiona. A tour to the West Indies followed in January 1974 but in four Test appearances Underwood made little impression on the West Indian batsmen. 5