Derek Underwood succeeds Mike Brearley as president of MCC today with the promise to use his year in office to promote youth development and to protect the endangered species of left-arm spinners. Underwood, who took 297 Test wickets with slow left-arm bowling, said yesterday that he was “saddened and disappointed” that there are so few home-grown spin bowlers in county cricket and blamed it on the clubs’ obsession with keeping the run-rate down rather than taking wickets.

“It’s very sad there are so few spinners,” he said. “At Kent, we only have one, James Tredwell, and no left-armers. I thought that with four-day cricket we would often see two spinners bowling together on the last day, but it’s not happening.

“It’s all about economy rates. We’re seeing some young spinners at 12, 13, 14 with such potential, but they get lost in club cricket, where their bad balls — and sometimes good balls — are put away for four and clubs don’t persevere with them. They would prefer to have a medium-pacer to keep the runs down rather than risk a young attacking spinner.”

Underwood said that one of his duties as president would be to encourage youngsters to develop their skills. “Twenty20 is getting young lads to see the game for the first time,” he said. “Once they are interested, there has to be a basis to help them to develop and I want to do what I can with Chance to shine, who are extremely good, to encourage them.”

MCC is preparing for 2009 to be the busiest year for the club in its 222-year history. As well as an Ashes Test and two one-day internationals, Lord’s will stage many of the matches in the World Twenty20 tournament and there will be about 500 MCC matches.

Underwood became a member of MCC in 1968, the same year that he spun England to victory over Australia at the Oval and a share of the Ashes series. “Beating the old enemy again is of course the thing that I most want to see next year,” Underwood said. “If we can keep Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff playing well, we are the better side, especially with Australia not having found a replacement for Shane Warne.” That will be one area where he does not mind the disappearance of spinners, then.

He added that he was also looking forward to the World Twenty20, particularly because it will be the first time that a women’s tournament has been held concurrently with the men’s. “Imagine the excitement when the women and men play their finals on the same day at Lord’s,” he said. “It will give the women’s game a great boost and because our ladies have done incredibly well recently, I imagine we will be favourites.”

Among the changes to the MCC committee, John Barclay joins today for a third three-year term, Rachael Heyhoe Flint and Peter Leaver join for second stints and Peter Carroll for his first, replacing David Faber, Matthew Fleming, Sir John Major and Nick Pocock. Robert Griffiths, QC, is the new chairman of the Laws sub-committee and will oversee the implementation of the new Law 6, which comes into effect today and seeks to ensure that bats are made using traditional materials.

- Darren Gough could become the second English player to sign up for the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 38-year-old former Yorkshire captain retired from the county game last week and is set to meet officials from the Twenty20 tournament next week to discuss following Dimitri Mascarenhas into the IPL. “The IPL would be a great buzz for me and I need cricket to be a buzz,” Gough, who has hinted that he will play 20-over cricket in England next season, said.

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