Douglas Johnny Image 21 Essex 1909

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Stoke Newington, London born all-rounder J.W.H.T. “Johnny” Douglas played for Essex from 1901 to 1928 and captained the County from 1911 to 1928. He also played for England in 23 Test matches and captained the England team both before and after the First World War with markedly different success, as well as being an Olympic champion boxer and a decent footballer.

Said to be the fittest cricketer of his day, Douglas was an untiring fast-medium bowler and obdurate batsman with a sometimes painfully limited batting repertoire who was nicknamed with a play on his initials J.W.H.T. as “Johnny Will Hit Today”, or conversely “Johnny Won’t Hit Today” by Australian hecklers. He captained the school teams at Felsted and was a member of Wanstead Cricket Club. He first played for Essex in 1902 and for London County in 1903. In 1904 he returned to Essex where he remained, captaining the side from 1911 to 1928.

He toured New Zealand with the M.C.C. in 1906-07 and played for England before and after the First World War, making his Test match debut against Australia at Sydney in December 1911. Douglas was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1915, but play was suspended during the War years. Douglas served in the Bedfordshire Regiment throughout the First World War, eventually ending the War with the rank of Major (acting Lieutenant-Colonel).

After the War until 1923 Douglas had to carry Essex’s bowling on his shoulders except when George Louden turned out. He took over 100 wickets in a season seven times with a best of 147 wickets in 1920. The following year against Derbyshire he produced perhaps the most remarkable all-round performance in English first class cricket history. After taking 9-47 against Derbyshire, Douglas stopped a breakdown against Bill Bestwick with an unbeaten 210 that tired him so much he did not bowl until the end of Derbyshire’s second innings. He then took two for none, giving him a match record of 11-47.

Douglas captained England eighteen times, with a Test match record of won eight, lost eight, drawn two. Successful as stand-in captain in Australia in 1911 after Plum Warner was taken ill, he won the series 4-1. He made his only Test century when he scored 119 against South Africa in Durban in December 1913 as England won by an innings and 157 runs. On the 1920-21 tour of Australia he led a depleted post-war side which suffered a 0-5 ‘whitewash’, a scoreline not repeated in an Ashes series until the 2006-07 England team lost by the same margin. Reappointed reluctantly by the M.C.C. in 1921, he lost the first two Tests at home to Warwick Armstrong’s side and was displaced as captain but retained in the XI. He captained England in one further Test match, against South Africa in July 1924, and played his final Test on the 1924-25 England tour of Australia at Melbourne in January 1925.

In Test match cricket he averaged 29.15 with the bat, scoring 6 half centuries in addition to his only hundred. He also took 45 wickets at 33.02 a piece with a best of 5-46 against Australia in Melbourne in February 1912 as England won by an innings and 225 runs. In 651 first class matches, Douglas scored 24,531 runs at an average of 27.90 with 26 hundreds and 107 half centuries. His bowling, with its lateral movement, brought 1,893 wickets at 23.32 a piece with 23 ten wicket matches and 113 five wicket innings. The boxer’s sturdy fists held on to 365 catches during his first class career.

Douglas was also a notable amateur boxer who won the middleweight gold medal at the 1908 Olympic Games. All three of his bouts, including the Final, described by The Times as “one of the most brilliant exhibitions of skilful boxing, allied to tremendous hitting, ever seen.”, were held on the same day. The silver medal winner, Snowy Baker, 44 years later falsely claimed that Douglas’s father was the sole judge and referee.

Baker never publicly contested the close points verdict which Douglas, who scored a second round knockdown over him to win their Olympic final. Yet, in a 1952 interview, he claimed that Douglas’s father had refereed the fight, leading to widespread suspicion of a dodgy decision. In reality Douglas senior was at ringside to present the medals in his role as President of the Amateur Boxing Association of England (A.B.A.). The real referee was Eugene Corri, who did not have to give a casting vote as the two judges agreed that Douglas was a narrow winner. Douglas Jr, his father and his younger brother, Cecil (‘Pickles’) were all prominent referees and officials in the A.B.A., Cecil also being the leading referee in the professional sport in the 1930’s. Besides his Olympic gold, Douglas also won the 1905 A.B.A. middleweight title.

Douglas also was a decent footballer, playing for The Corinthians after the First World War, making his debut for them against Cambridge in the 1919-20 season, scoring twice in 15 appearances as an inside forward.

Tragically, Johnny Douglas’ heroic life ended in disastrous circumstances. He sadly drowned when the Oberon ship, on which he and his father were travelling, was wrecked seven miles south of the Laeso Trindel Lightship, Denmark. It was December 19th, 1930 when their ship collided with a sister-vessel in foggy weather when the two captains, who were brothers, were attempting to exchange Christmas greetings. According to a witness at the post mortem inquiry, Douglas may well have been trying to save his father. They had been purchasing timber in Finland for their business. He was aged just 48.