Former England bowler Derek Underwood has died at the age of 78, his former team Kent County Cricket Club said on Monday.
\nUnderwood played 86 test matches for England and took 297 wickets, the country\u2019s highest wicket-taking spinner of all time in the format and the sixth highest wicket-taker overall. His 16-year international career includes 17 five-wicket hauls.
\nThe retrospective ICC rankings put him as the world\u2019s number one bowler for nearly four years between 1969 and 1973.
\nUnderwood, born in Kent, played for his local club for 24 years before retiring in 1987 and had 10 seasons where he took 100 or more wickets.
\n\u201cWatching Derek weave his unique magic on a wet wicket was a privilege for all who were able to witness it,\u201d Simon Philip, chair of Kent Cricket, said in a statement.
\n\u201cHis induction into the ICC Hall of Fame shows the esteem in which he was held in world cricket.\u201d
\nUnderwood also served as the president of Kent Cricket and the Marylebone Cricket Club after retiring as a player.
\n\u201cDerek also made substantial contributions off the field as well as on it and he will be sorely missed by everyone at Kent Cricket,\u201d Philip added.
\n(Reuters)cricket. cricketer, England, wickets<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Derek Underwood, former England bowler, has passed away at the age of 78. He played 86 test matches for England and took 297 wickets, making him the country’s highest wicket-taking spinner in the format. Underwood was ranked as the world’s number one bowler for nearly four years between 1969 and 1973. He played for Kent County Cricket Club for 24 years, retiring in 1987, and had 10 seasons where he took 100 or more wickets. Underwood was also inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame and served as the president of Kent Cricket and the Marylebone Cricket Club after retiring as a player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[862,920,6526,3251,187,148,455,4843,1318,421,1827,494,6305,6527,1524,18],"class_list":["post-8312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-age","tag-cricket","tag-cricketer","tag-england","tag-international","tag-local","tag-magic","tag-president","tag-rankings","tag-sports","tag-statement","tag-uk","tag-who","tag-wickets","tag-witness","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n