Derek Underwood, who died last week, was one of England’s most successful spinners ever. A few years ago, he talked us through his greatest on-field moments.
Four-fer first up
Yorkshire v Kent, County Championship, Hull, 1963
I was told I was going to Yorkshire to make my county debut. So the next day I got to Euston, met up with the team and got the train up to Hull. The first day was washed out, then the second day I took my first first-class wicket: Ray Illingworth – and I never ceased to remind him about it, because I played a lot with Ray. He’d played Test cricket, so I was delighted getting someone like him out. I was 17 and scraped to 100 wickets that season by getting three at Scarborough in a festival game. Nobody even realised I’d got 100 wickets, but I did!
The England debut: coming around
England v West Indies, Third Test, Trent Bridge, 1966
I look back and think it probably was too early. When I first played for Kent I bowled round the wicket, and I was told by Les Ames [Kent secretary/manager] and Colin Cowdrey [Kent and England captain] that I should bowl over the wicket. But I wasn’t terribly happy about it, lbws were almost taken away from me. In my first Test match I bowled all my overs over the wicket, and I look back and think how appalling that was! After two Test matches I had bowling figures of 1-170 and bagged a pair in my second Test. I went back to Kent and decided to go back round the wicket, and I had fantastic figures the year I did.
Mopping up at The Oval
England v Australia, Fifth Test, The Oval, 1968
We were winning the game, set to level the series, and there was a huge downpour just before lunch on the final day. And The Oval was a complete lake. The public helped to mop up! We went out with about an hour and a quarter to get five of them. We were able to apply the pressure, get men around the bat. And the ball… it didn’t turn! You’d think people would be getting caught slip and gully, with the ball turning and bouncing, but it never did. It just got a little bit big at times, but it was going straight on with the arm. And John Inverarity, I don’t know what happened in his mind… with six minutes to go he just padded away the straightest ball of all time. The picture of all 11 of us in the frame is wonderful.
A deadly dozen
New Zealand v England, First Test, Christchurch, 1971
I’d developed a reputation for being ‘deadly’ on a wet wicket and this was another one. It was Bob Taylor’s first Test match; Knotty had been dropped having kept brilliantly during the Ashes win in Australia, but Bob kept beautifully on one that was really difficult to keep on. It would pitch outside leg and fly past the keeper’s right shoulder. We bowled them out for 65 and I’d taken 6-12.
The fungus and the urn
England v Australia, Fourth Test, Headingl
