Derek Pringle kicked off our 2023/24 season in style to new and existing members with a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining visual presentation. By sharing photographs he has taken of his peers and those involved in the game Derek was able to provide his “first hand” insights into the many greats of the game and classic matches he has been a part of.
Please click on the Gallery link here or in the top menu to view additional photos.
All images courtesy of Pete Wilson.
Pen Portrait
Derek Raymond Pringle was born on September 18, 1958 in Nairobi, Kenya. His father, Don Pringle, played for Kenya and represented East Africa in 2 games at the first Cricket World Cup in 1975.
Derek went to Felsted School before going on to Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University. He appeared as an extra in “Chariots of Fire”. He was university cricket captain in 1982 at which time he was selected for England against India at Lord’s.
He is very tall at 6ft 4in and was an all-rounder for Cambridge University (1979-82), Essex (1978-93) and England (1982-93). He was a right hand bat and right arm medium pace bowler who used his height to generate swing and bounce.
He was, and is, an unconventional character who likes real ale and vinyl records and who had the distinction of being the first England cricketer to wear an ear ring!
He played for Essex during a golden period for the county. In his career there, Essex won the County Championship six times, the NatWest Trophy once, the Benson and Hedges Cup once and the Sunday League three times.
Derek played 295 first class matches during which he scored almost 10,000 runs at just under 30 with 10 centuries and 48 fifties and a top score of 128. He also took over 750 wickets at around 25. He took 5 wickets in an innings on 25 occasions (with a best of 7/18) and took 10 wickets in a match 3 times.
He played 30 Tests, in and out, for England from 1982-92 during which he hit one half century (63) and took 70 wickets with a best of 5/95. He played 44 ODIs between 1982 and 1993 during which he took 44 wickets with a best of 4/42.
Following his playing career, he became a cricket correspondent with “The Independent” and “The Daily Telegraph”. He wrote his entertaining autobiography, “Pushing the Boundaries”, published by Hodder & Stoughton, in 2018.
It will be a pleasure to welcome to our society a man who has both played and watched cricket at a high level and who has a distinctive view of the game.
Ken Burney