Ian Johnson Obituary (12 October 1998)
The death was announced today of former Australian Test captain Ian Johnson
12-Oct-1998
12 October 1998
Ian Johnson Obituary
Rick Eyre in CricInfo365
Ian Johnson (1917-1998)
The death was announced today of former Australian Test captain Ian
Johnson. Aged 80, Johnson died in a Melbourne hospital on Friday
following a long illness.
Ian William Johnson was born on 8 December 1917 (though he was
recorded for many years as being born in 1918) in North Melbourne and
made his first appearance for Victoria at first-class level in 1935-36
at the age of 18 years and 23 days. He made his first of his 45 Test
appearances for Australia in New Zealand in 1946. He was a member of
the 1948 "Invincibles" led by Sir Donald Bradman who won the Ashes
decisively in England. Following the retirement of Lindsay Hassett in
1953, he took over the Australian captaincy, leading his country in 17
Tests, including tours to West Indies, England, India and Pakistan. He
retired from first-class cricket following the tour of India and
Pakistan in 1956/57.
An off-spinner who could provide some solid batting in the Australian
tail, he took 109 wickets for Australia at 29.19 runs apiece, and
scored precisely 1000 runs at 18.51. His best bowling figures in a
Test were 7/44 at Bourda, Georgetown in 1955. In 189 first-class
matches he scored 4905 runs at 22.92 and took 619 wickets at 23.30.
Following his retirement, Johnson was a television commentator on the
1956 Melbourne Olympics before becoming secretary of the Melbourne
Cricket Club for 26 years, responsible for the administration of the
Melbourne Cricket Ground.
His father, William Johnson, was at one time an Australian selector,
while his father-in-law, Dr Roy Park, played one Test. Johnson is
survived by wife Allie and sons Bill and Bob, as well as six
grand-children.
Source :: CricInfo365