Douglas Ernest Vernon Padgett (20 July 1934 – 20 January 2024) was an English cricketer, who played more than 500 first-class matches and represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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twice, both in 1960. Cricket writer Colin Bateman recorded Padgett was, "nimble, happy anywhere in the

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, he was a great technician and one of the best batsmen of his era on a bad wicket".

Life and career

Born 20 July 1934, Padgett had an elder brother, Granville, who was also a professional cricketer. He played for Idle Cricket Club in 1951. In 1951, he became the youngest player then to play first-class cricket for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, aged just 16 years and 320 days.

Paul Jarvis Paul William Jarvis (born 29 June 1965) is a former English cricketer, who played in nine Tests and sixteen ODIs for England from 1988 to 1993. Cricket writer, Colin Bateman, remarked, "Jarvis always had much potential as a well-coordinated p ...

broke Padgett's record in 1981. Following his

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, Padgett was one of the first of a new generation of Yorkshire batsmen to cement his place in the Yorkshire first team. He scored more than 1,000 runs in 1956, and in the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

-winning side of 1959 he was the leading batsman with more than 2,000 runs. He usually batted at No 3, though he occasionally opened the innings. In 1960, a tour by the

South Africans South Africans are the citizens of South Africa (officially the Republic of South Africa ''RSA. These individuals include those residing within the borders of South Africa, as well as the South African diaspora. History The first modern inh ...

, widely perceived as weak, led the England Test selectors to experiment with new batsmen, and Padgett played in the fourth and fifth matches. He was not a great success, and was one of a number of England players criticised in

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Test match for slow batting in the second innings. Padgett went to New Zealand the following winter on an extensive

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) tour, but he was never picked again for England. Padgett failed to convert his innings into big scores, albeit registering 50 one hundred and twenty nine times in his first-class career, he reached the century mark only on thirty two occasions. This counted against him when the England selectors considered his promotion to further international duty. However, he remained a valued member of the Yorkshire side that won six further Championships across the 1960s. He scored more than 1,000 runs in twelve County Championship seasons. Padgett retired from playing in 1971, much to the frustration of the new captain,

Geoffrey Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's m ...

, who relied on his counsel. Padgett then captained Yorkshire's second eleven, becoming assistant, then head coach. Padgett died on 20 January 2024, at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Padgett, Doug 1934 births 2024 deaths English cricketers England Test cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Yorkshire cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Combined Services cricketers People from Idle, West Yorkshire Sportspeople from the City of Bradford Cricketers from West Yorkshire Cricketers from Bradford Players cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers English cricketers of 1946 to 1968 20th-century English sportsmen