Johnny Douglas

This article is about the cricketer and boxer Johnny Douglas. For the composer and conductor, see Johnny Douglas (composer) .

Johnny Douglas

Player information
Surname	John William Henry Tyler Douglas
Born	3rd September 1882 Stoke Newington , London , England
Died	December 19, 1930 at the age of 48 near Læsø , Denmark
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm fast-medium
International games
National team	England
Test debut (cap 170)	December 15, 1911 v  Australia
Last test	January 8, 1925 v Australia
National teams
Years	team
1901-1928	Essex
1903-1904	London county
Career statistics
Game form	Testing	First-class
Games	23	651
Runs (total)	962	24,531
Batting average	29.15	27.90
100s / 50s	1/6	26/107
Highscore	119	210 *
Balls	2,812	83,528
Wickets	45	1,893
Bowling Average	33.02	23.32
5 wickets in innings	1	113
10 wickets in play	0	23
Best bowling performance	5/46	9/47
Catches / stumpings	9 / -	365 / -
Source: Cricinfo , April 11, 2015

John William Henry Tyler "Johnny" Douglas (born September 3, 1882 in London , † December 19, 1930 off the coast of Denmark near Læsø ) was an English cricketer and boxer .

biography

Douglas was distantly related to the Marquess of Queensberry , after whom the Queensberry Rules are named. His father was successful in the timber trade with Scandinavia, owned a boxing club in Covent Garden and was president of the English boxing association. Douglas proved to be a talented boxer during his school days and was multiple champion. In 1905 he became English amateur middleweight champion.

He took part in the London Olympics in 1908 and became an Olympic champion. In the final, he defeated the Australian Reginald Baker on points. The fight was so close that it was later often and stubbornly claimed that the referees could not have agreed on a winner and that Douglas' father, as the main referee, decided the fight in favor of his son. But in reality, in his role as association president, he was only responsible for awarding the medals. After Baker, who later made a career in Hollywood , claimed in an interview in 1952 that the rumor was true, it was also presented as a fact in many reputable publications. It was only in 2004 that it could be proven beyond doubt that Douglas' victory had complied with the rules.

From 1901 to 1928 Douglas played cricket at the highest national and international level. During his career he played in 23 Tests and 651 first-class games, mostly for the Essex County Cricket Club . He was the captain of the English national team in 18 games. In 1915 he was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year . His nickname was, derived from his initials, J ohnny W on't H it T o d ay (Johnny won't score today), which, given his excellent qualities as a batsman and boxer, should be understood as a slightly malicious joke. In addition, Douglas played a number of games for the leading English amateur clubs Corinthian FC and Casuals FC between 1910 and 1923 and was used for the Amateur Football Association in a selection game.

Douglas drowned at the age of 48 in the Kattegat , seven miles south of the Danish island of Læsø . He had been in Finland on a business trip with his father and was on his way back to England when the passenger ship collided with another ship in the thick fog and sank.

Web links

• Johnny Douglas in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Douglas' cricket stats at cricinfo
• Boxing Monthly report on the alleged 1908 London scandal decision

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Corinthian-Casuals FC - Corinthian Player Profiles ( Memento from July 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive )