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Can't believe no one has put up a thread about the death of ,"Deadly Derek ,," as he was known .Back in the day when cricket was regularly on the BBC he was England's main spin bowler for years ,played for Kent at club level .Many memories of watching him and cricket in general when I was younger ,with gentle commentary of Benaud and Laker ,happy days .RIP Derek.
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Sad news I remember the 1971 Gillette cup final in which he played still my favourite ever one day match.
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Was certainly " Deadly Derek " on anything rain affected , saw him play many times and obtained his autograph as it was in the days before being overtaken by selfies.
The coverage comment is interesting and remembered as the bad old days myself with a camera only at one end of the ground so you invariably saw the players backside when he was dismissed , thank the lord for technology. R.I.P Derek , one of greats with the performances to back it up  |
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Gillette Cup I remember they used to show the later rounds on tv ,was good entertainment,and the John Player League on Sundays on BBC 2 ,back when people still cared about county cricket .
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We all have our memorable days jimnast , i was a mad Hampshire follower in those youthful days and attended the vast majority of their John Player league games when the Richards & Greenidge bandwagon was in its pomp.
Memory that's stuck in my head all these years above many great ones is a negative one , went to the B & H semi-final in 1977 vs Gloucestershire and Mike Procter took 4 wickets in five balls to destroy my day |
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Don't think you should be too surprised that there wasn't an earlier thread about his death on a horse racing forum, i didn't see anything about it on the news yesterday and only found out through this thread.
Remember him well from the 60s early 70s for England more of a medium pace bowler i thought, wasn't much of a batsman so not really an all rounder, but seem to remember he bowled an awful lot of overs. Surprisingly for a left arm bowler batted right handed, quite unusual i'd have thought. RIP Derek. |
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I would reckon he was one of the four best England spinners ever
I didn't hear a mention either. Found out on Wiki's recent deaths in which I take a morbid interest. Cricket now totally overshadowed by Kickball. |
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Yes I don't remember him as a great spin bowler compared to what was to come Mutri,Warne etc ,but was an England regular for years ,sometimes they played 2 spinners ,Phil?Edmunds was the other one ,had a very pretty and famous wife if I remember correctly.
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Hayden your were very lucky to see sir Vivian so many times I saw his one day demolition on England at old Trafford he was the best .
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Underwood was unplayable after a delay on those pitches that had been affected by rain. One of the all time greats.
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I'm no expert sparrow maybe I'm doing him a disservice ,must've been good to hold his position in the team for so long I suppose .Fondly remembered anyway ,with his Kent teammate Alan Knott twitching away behind the stumps .
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My fault jimnast was referring to Barry Richards who opened with Gordon Greenidge in those days , Barry was the best ever in my biased head , averaged 72 in test cricket but being South African his international career was cut short in that era.
Loved Sir Viv though i mean who didn't , saw him play live 6 or 7 times and had a crease aura that no player could ever match. |
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Any relation of the Underwoods who were the rugby players?
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Doubt it ,they were dark haired guys ,Derek was blonde .
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Shouldn't think so. He was quite slightly built.
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Underwood's death makes the front page of the Daily Star and the obituaries section of the Telegraph. There is no mention of any interest in rugby or horseracing so WFM.
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WFM?
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Played against him and Alan Knott as a schoolboy many years ago. Both stood out as different class and remember being told that Kent wanted Knott as a spin bowler but he insisted on being a wicket keeper. The rest is history.
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I'd have been proud to have been
C Knott B Underwood. |
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FELTFAIR
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sparrow -- WFM means wrong forum, muppet (or muppett given the usual Betfair misspelling).
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Ok thanks, ramruma.
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Yes Knott opened the batting against our team and although diminutive he walloped our opening bowlers all over the ground.
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Cricket is a sport when different class really shines through so even a Number 11 can look a good technical batsman in club cricket for sure , the top notch make it look so easy.
I remember watching Collis King ( remember him ? ) playing for Pontblyddyn Cricket Club one day in North Wales , he was coming in at 5 or 6 for Windies at the time but that day in Wales he lost 7 cricket balls and broke every batting record in the leagues history. |
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I opened the batting with Matthew Slaters cousin in a game one day, we put on 137 for the first wicket, i was out for 20 lol.
He was in a different league, but he told me he was a million miles away from playing county or sheffield shield cricket. Just shows how good you've got to be. |
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Very true dambuster , great memory that opening stand
Cricket at the top level can only be appreciated as to how good these guys are by watching at least one live game , they make it look so so easy on TV and almost like anyone could do it  |
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For us oldies, Dereks best games 1968 at the Oval, and 1972 at Headingly. Just amazing .... can still picture them,fantastic finishes
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLQdh2T8Tmw&list=PLdz_rC7tjXMvbKB2RFjYaCMNmw0xLBR55&index=3
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Yes I don't remember him as a great spin bowler compared to what was to come Mutri,Warne etc ,but was an England regular for years ,sometimes they played 2 spinners ,Phil?Edmunds was the other one ,had a very pretty and famous wife if I remember correctly.
Underwood played a good few years before edmunds.Phil edmunds spin twin was John emburey,both played for Middlesex as well as England. Underwood was virtually unplayable on rain affected wickets in the days when the pitch was uncovered.r.i.p |
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I went training for Kent Schools cricket in the early to mid 70s
We used to use Dartford Grammar indoor facilities in the winter The first team used to coach us and Alan Knott used to give me a lift home as he lived just round the corner from me I was a middle order batsman and wicket keeper, so had to "stand up" to Derek Underwood in training...He didn't turn it much as just kept putting in a spot that the batsman found hard to get away They had Paul Downton as another schoolboy wickie at the time so unsurprisingly I didn't progress to ground staff... I preferred football anyway There were some other good future players there as well... Graham Dilley, the Cowdrey brothers... Kent and Somerset were the top dogs in the 70s, imo |
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Bob Taylor best wicketkeeper but couldn't bat
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You rarely see his left arm round action these days,out of the back of the hand.most spinners are front hand.
Was great for his era,a classic cricket gent, |
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And back in those days, the contract only gave them full pay for the Summer
In the winter the players used to take second jobs like postman or window cleaners |
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I don’t think many were window cleaners or postmen,a lot were private schooled oxbridge lads,not many working class players made it to the England team.
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I was thinking more of the journeyman players
Certainly, in our schoolboy practice sessions there were kids like the Cowdrey brothers who were private schoolboys, but Graham Dilley for example went to an ordinary local school like myself. |
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More working class boys around then. It's the new breed who are mainly public school. State schools have largely given up on cricket.
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Yes the Cowdreys lived down the road and were often round , with Paul Downton and Tav , no working class there ! I was fairly rubbish but managed the odd Holmesdale game or two . There is a ' Coffin Cheaters 2024 ' thread on the Politics forum , Deadly was on there .
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Deadly was great,so difficult to play on largely uncovered wickets in that era,Alan Knott superb behind the timber.
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