Olympic Games & Cricket

The game of cricket and the Olympic Games do not gel. Just once at the Paris Olympiad in 1900 a cricket match was played between Britain and France. Britain was represented by Devon & Somerset Wanderers CC and France by members of the British Embassy based at Paris! Never again was such an absurd experiment encouraged.

But there happened to be an England cricketer who went on to win an Olympic medal. Ironically in boxing, a sport as far from cricket as possible. Sedentary cricket and super-fast boxing certainly make strange partners!

JWHT Douglas joined Essex just after leaving school in 1901. The young batsman began with an unusual record of scoring two zeros on his county cricket debut! As if this was not enough, he got another zero in his 3^rd innings. Thereafter he settled down to a normal career at cricket.

In the meantime the tough 26 year-old man appeared in the London Olympic Games of 1908 and defeated his more fancied opponent Reginald Baker of Australia in the final to claim the gold medal in the middle-weight category. An Olympic gold medal in boxing for a cricketer!

In 1911 Douglas went to Australia with Pelham Warner’s England (then MCC) cricket team. As Warner fell sick, Douglas was asked to lead the team. Believe it or not, that was his Test debut as well! Douglas lost the 1^st Test but went on to win the series 4-1 thereby helping England to regain the Ashes.

Douglas represented England in 23 Tests, leading in 18 of them. Won and lost 8 matches each. He was a tough, vigorous player who would bat, bowl and field with passion and energy. The Australian crowd expanded the initials of his name into ‘Johnny Won’t Hit Today’ because of his ultra-defensive batting approach.

Combining an Olympic gold medal in a body-contact sport with the sleepy approach of Test cricket captaincy, Douglas had an exceptionally eventful life. In death, too, at just 48 he left behind a most unusual occurrence.

 In 1930 Douglas and his father were on a business trip when their steamship collided with another in very poor visibility near Denmark. Both were thrown overboard by the impact. Trying to save his father from drowning, it was reported that the junior Douglas too expired leaving the sporting world stunned.

No other cricketer has ever been able replicate an Olympic gold medal with the nation’s cricket leadership. An exceptional sports personality was our John William Henry Tyler (JWHT) Douglas.