Tributes to an all-time great

Kent Cricket is in mourning after the death of one of the club’s icons.

Former England and Kent spinner Derek Underwood has died, aged 78, sparking tributes from across the cricketing world.

“The Kent Cricket family is in mourning following the passing of one of its greatestever players,” said chairman Simon Phillip as Kent announced his death on Monday.

“Derek was an outstanding contributor to both Kent and England, winning trophies for club and country - and etching his name in the history books forevermore.

“His induction into the ICC Hall of Fame shows the esteem in which he was held in world cricket.

“An advocate for growing our game worldwide whilst protecting our sport’s heritage, Derek also made substantial contributions off the field as well as on it, and he will be sorely missed by everyone at Kent Cricket.”

Kent head coach Matt Walker said: “It goes without saying what a fantastic cricketer he was. One of England’s greatest, obviously one of Kent’s greatest, but for me, my dealings with Derek on a personal level were with someone who was around in the early part of my career.” Mr Underwood made more than 900 appearances for Kent across three decades, from 1963 until 1987, taking a remarkable 2,523 wickets at an average of 19.04.

He was the leading bowler in England on four occasions in 1966, 1967, 1978 and 1979 and made 86 Test appearances for his country after his debut against the West Indies at Trent Bridge in July 1966, taking 297 wickets for England at an average of 25.83. He remains England’s sixthhighest wicket-taker in Test cricket and is still the leading spinner in the list.

In One-Day International cricket, Mr Underwood made 26 appearances as he took 32 wickets at 22.93.

He received two benefit seasons at Kent Cricket for his outstanding service to the club - in 1975 and 1986 respectively - and was awarded an MBE for services to cricket in the New Year’s Honours list of 1981.

Kent chase their first win of the season when they host Surrey tomorrow (Friday) in their third County Championship match of the summer. Centuries from Daniel BellDrummond and Ben Compton were the highlight of their game with Essex at Chelmsford, which ended in a draw on Monday.