Personifying courage, England's cricket captain Douglas sacrificed his life in attempt to save his father

It takes extraordinary talent to represent one’s country in two different sports. In India there was Cotah Ramaswamy who played for India in the Davis Cup tennis championships as well as Test cricket and there was M.J. Gopalan who represented India in hockey as well as cricket. In England there were a few examples of players who played for England in cricket as well as football. But representing one’s country in three different sports is almost unheard of.

However, more than 100 years ago, there was one such person in England. His name was Johnny Douglas (born in 1882) and he represented England in cricket, football and in boxing.

As a cricketer he made his debut at the age of 29 in the 1911 Ashes series against Australia and played in 23 Test matches. If the First World War had not interrupted his career, he would have got more opportunities. He was known to be a top class all rounder.

He was and still is, the only captain of England’s cricket team who has also won a gold medal in boxing at the Olympic Games. He was a man who was blessed with immense skill, enormous stamina and boundless confidence.

Talented cricketer

After being appointed captain of England, he led his team to an Ashes triumph over Australia in 1911. For that tour, England’s Pelham Warner, (who was later dubbed as the Grand Old Man of cricket), was initially named captain but when Warner fell ill, Johnny Douglas was asked to lead the team.

That England side included legends of the time such as Sir Jack Hobbs, Sidney Barnes, Wilfred Rhodes and Frank Woolley who later coached Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi when the Nawab was a schoolboy in the UK.

After Australia won the first Test in Sydney, the visiting England team hit back and won all the remaining four Tests. In the fourth Test, the new captain Johnny Douglas took five wickets for 46 runs in 17.5 overs. Overall, Douglas led England in 18 Test matches. Under his captaincy England won eight matches, lost eight and two were drawn.

Football career

He was a good footballer who regularly played for the Corinthians Football Club, an amateur team that existed between 1882 and 1939. Douglas played well enough to be selected for the England amateur team. But due to the turbulent upheavals of the First World War, his records in football have been destroyed and are now untraceable.

Gold medal in boxing

In boxing he was immensely successful. He came from a family of boxers. His father and brother were both good at the sport. Later his father became an official in boxing. So it was natural that Douglas took up boxing while still a schoolboy, and won the Amateur Boxing Association title in the middleweight category.

When London hosted the Olympic Games of 1908, Douglas was selected to represent Great Britain. Competing in the middleweight category again, he outpointed Australia’s Reginald Snowy Baker to win the gold medal. All three of his bouts, including the final, were described by The Times (London) as “one of the most brilliant exhibitions of skillful boxing, allied to tremendous hitting, ever seen in the land.”

Personal life and death

Johnny Douglas’ father John Herbert Douglas, by profession, was a very successful timber merchant, and young Johnny joined his father’s business since he was an amateur sportsman and did not earn money from sports. When the First World War began, Johnny signed up for the army and was involved in battles on the war front. Here too he excelled and was quickly promoted to the rank of a major.

After the war ended, he went back to working at his father’s company. In the year 1930, he and his father went to Europe to carry out some business deals and buy some stock. On their journey back to England, their ship Oberon collided with another ship belonging to the same line. As their ship began to sink, Johnny Douglas found that his aged father was trapped inside.

Showing the same courage that he had displayed on the battlefields and boxing rings, Johnny tried his utmost to pull out his father but failed in the effort. Ultimately, both father and son perished together. It was a sad end to a brave man whose superb skills at three different sports were unmatched. He was only 48 years old when he met his end at sea.

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