| Dereck Dowling | |
| Country: | South Africa |
| Fullname: | Dereck Frank Dowling |
| Birth Date: | 25 May 1914 |
| Death Place: | Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
| Batting: | Left-handed |
| Bowling: | Right-arm leg-spin |
| Club1: | Border |
| Year1: | 1937–38 to 1938–39 |
| Club2: | North-Eastern Transvaal |
| Year2: | 1939–40 to 1945–46 |
| Club3: | Natal |
| Year3: | 1946–47 to 1953–54 |
| Columns: | 1 |
| Column1: | First-class |
| Matches1: | 57 |
| Runs1: | 2871 |
| Bat Avg1: | 36.80 |
| 100S/50S1: | 5/17 |
| Top Score1: | 106 |
| Deliveries1: | 3506 |
| Wickets1: | 72 |
| Bowl Avg1: | 24.44 |
| Fivefor1: | 2 |
| Tenfor1: | 0 |
| Best Bowling1: | 6/24 |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 41/– |
| Source: | http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/player/44807.html Cricinfo |
| Date: | 21 April 2018 |
Dereck Frank Dowling (25 May 1914 – 30 May 2003) was a South African cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1937 to 1954.
A stylish left-handed middle-order batsman and leg-spin bowler,[1] 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]