Ian William Geddes Johnson, CBE, was an Australian cricketer. He played 45 Test matches for Australia between 1946 and 1956. Johnson captained the Australian team in 17 Tests, winning seven and losing five. He was part of Don Bradman’s Invincibles team; undefeated on tour in England in 1948.
About Ian Johnson (cricketer) in brief
Ian William Geddes Johnson, CBE, was an Australian cricketer. He played 45 Test matches for Australia between 1946 and 1956. Johnson captained the Australian team in 17 Tests, winning seven and losing five. He was part of Don Bradman’s Invincibles team; undefeated on tour in England in 1948. His career was interrupted by the Second World War; he served with the Royal Australian Air Force as a pilot and later as a flight instructor. After retirement, Johnson worked for a time as a sports commentator, including covering the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. In 1957 he was appointed Secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club, one of the most prestigious positions in Australian sport. In 1956 he was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to cricket; this was twice upgraded: to OBE in 1977 and to CBE in 1982. He died in Melbourne in 1998. He is buried in the Melbourne suburb of St Vincent’s Anglican Church, where he was a schoolboy in the 1930s and 1940s. Johnson was a keen squash player before turning to cricket. In 1934, aged only 16, he played his first match for the South Melbourne Cricket club First XI. He made his first-class cricket debut for Victoria in the 1935–36 season but did not establish a permanent place in the team until 1939–40. Johnson played for Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield in November 1939, making his debut against South Australia in Adelaide. He scored 33 in the first innings and 41 in the second, taking two wickets in each innings as Tasmania won by six wickets.
He did not play again for three years, finally returning to the Victorian side to play another two games in 1938–39. Johnson scored 313 runs at an average of 26 and took 13 wickets for the season. He retired from all forms of cricket at age 39, and later became a cricket commentator. His son, Ian Johnson, is a former Australian international cricket player who played for Victoria and New South Wales. He also played for Melbourne University and the University of Melbourne. Johnson died in a car crash in Melbourne on November 25, 2008. He had been driving a car for a friend when he was injured. He has a son, David, who is also a former cricket player and former Australian cricket captain. He passed away in 2011. He will be buried in a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, with his wife and two daughters. His great-great-grandson, David Johnson, also played cricket for Victoria, and died in 2011 at the age of 89. He won the Australian Cricket Association Order of Merit in 1966. He took 109 wickets at anAverage of 29. 19 runs per wicket. He captained Australia in 17 Test matches, winning 7 and losing 5, with a further five drawn. Johnson is better known as the captain who lost consecutive Ashes series against England. He went on to become the first Australian to win the Centenary Test in 1977.
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