Picture that captures Deadly’s finest moment

Sawdust everywhere after a storm and just six minutes left on the clock when England’s greatest spinner, Derek Underwood, clinched famous Ashes Test win

This is the picture which perfectly captures the greatest moment in the illustrious career of Derek Underwood, the mild-mannered man of Kent who became ‘Deadly’ with ball in hand.

it features Underwood, all 10 of his England team-mates, two Australians and umpire Charlie Elliott with finger raised to complete one of the greatest of all Ashes wins.

There is also plenty of sawdust in that evocative image from 1968, which was badly needed following a thunderstorm that seemed to have ended England’s hopes of a series-levelling victory at the Oval — before Underwood had the last, thrilling word.

in all the left-arm spinner, who has died aged 78 after a long illness, took four wickets in 27 balls, after rain cleared leaving

England 75 minutes to take five wickets. Underwood claimed the final one of Australia’s John inverarity lbw with six minutes left on the Oval clock.

if that was Underwood’s greatest day, there were plenty more in his 86 Tests which saw him become England’s most prolific spinner with 297 wickets, and in his long association with Kent that saw him retire in 1987 with more than 2,000 first-class victims to his name.

There was little mystery to Underwood ( right). Just metronomic accuracy from an unusually long run- up and medium rather than slow pace that saw him become particularly potent on the uncovered pitches that were prevalent in the first half of his 24-year career. But it is unfair to say Underwood needed a wet surface to become effective. he was very good on dry pitches, but whenever it rained he would become near unplayable, supported by Alan Knott, surely the greatest keeper there has ever been standing up to the stumps.

The pair went together for country and county in their era as readily as Morecambe and

Wise on TV and Lennon and McCartney in music, and they were immortalised in 2011 at Canterbury when Kent renamed their Annexe stand after both.

how Underwood relished having such a skilled craftsman behind the stumps because, when the elements were in his favour, he was truly ‘Deadly’, with the iCC’s retrospective rankings saying he was the best bowler in the world for four years between 1969 and 1973. he would have taken many more Test wickets, too, had he not become an unlikely outsider, firstly in 1977 by joining Kerry Packer’s World series and then when he effectively ended his international career by going on the first England rebel tour of south Africa. Neither controversial excursion did anything to lessen the respect in which Underwood was held throughout the game, and within a cricketing establishment that made him MCC president in 2008 after he held the same role with his beloved Kent two years earlier. ‘The Kent cricket family is in mourning following the passing of one of its greatest ever players,’ said Kent cricket chair simon Philip yesterday in a statement.

‘Watching Derek weave his unique magic on a wet wicket was a privilege for all who were able to witness it. Derek also made substantial contributions off the field as well as on it and he will be sorely missed.’

Underwood had already begun his battle with dementia when he made his last public appearance at Canterbury Cathedral to celebrate Kent’s 150th anniversary in March 2020, but he was well enough to be heard saying: ‘They tell me Knotty and i made a good combination.’

it was an understatement typical of a modest man.

Underwood was a true great of the English and world game whose England Test record wicket tally for a spinner may never be beaten.

More importantly, he was a true — albeit ‘Deadly’ — gentleman.