Dereck Frank Dowling (25 May 1914 – 30 May 2003) was a South African cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1937 to 1954.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dereck Frank Dowling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1914-05-25)25 May 1914 Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 30 May 2003(2003-05-30) (aged 89) Durban, Natal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm leg-spin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1937-38 to 1938-39 | Border | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1939-40 to 1945-46 | North-Eastern Transvaal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1946-47 to 1953-54 | Natal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 21 April 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A stylish left-handed middle-order batsman and leg-spin bowler,[1] Dereck Dowling made his first-class debut in the 1937-38 Currie Cup season. Batting at number five for Border against Western Province, he scored 84 and 40 not out in a seven-wicket victory for Border.[2] He played for North-Eastern Transvaal in 1939–40. In the nine matches he played before the Second World War he made six fifties.[3]
He joined Natal in 1946–47, helping them win three of the next five Currie Cup competitions.[1] He twice made his highest score of 106: in an innings victory for Natal over North-Eastern Transvaal in 1947–48,[4] and in a draw against Transvaal in 1952–53.[5] His best bowling figures of 6 for 24 enabled Natal to dismiss Border for 60 and claim an innings victory in the opening match of the 1950-51 Currie Cup.[6]
Although he was considered for the tours of England in 1951 and Australia and New Zealand in 1952–53, he never played Test cricket.[1] The New Zealand player John Reid said Dowling was “perhaps the best batsman – and the unluckiest – never to be selected for South Africa”.[7]
He was the president of the Natal Cricket Association from 1974 to 1986. His father, Henry, and younger brother Justin also played Currie Cup cricket.[1]