Batsman who helped Yorkshire dominate cricket after the war
DOUG PADGETT, who has died aged 89, gave a lifetime of service to Yorkshire cricket at every level. During a 20-year playing career, he stood out as one of the most gifted right-handed batters in England in the years after the Second World War.
Though he only won two England caps, he became an integral member of one of the most successful Yorkshire sides in the history of the game as they won seven County Championship titles in 10 years. As his playing days wound down, Padgett proved no less successful as a coach.
Born in Bradford on July 20 1934, Douglas Ernest Vernon Padgett was the youngest son of Harry Granville Padgett, a sheet metal worker, and his wife Lilian (née Geldard). He went to Thorne Secondary Modern School, where he captained Bradford Schools at both cricket and football.
Aged 13 he was opening the batting for his local club, Idle, in the Bradford League, and represented Yorkshire Schools and England Schools. Neat and compact at the crease, he was a technically correct player very much in the mould of his great hero, Len Hutton. Among an impressive repertoire of shots, countless runs came courtesy of an elegant leg glance.
A move to Bowling Old Lane saw him become the Bradford League’s top run-scorer. Attending Yorkshire’s winter nets under the guidance of Arthur Mitchell, he was a regular with Yorkshire Colts. A week short of his 16th birthday brought him a call to the Racecourse Ground at Thirsk for the Yorkshire Second XI encounter with Northumberland.
Twelve months later, with Hutton and Watson on England duty, he made his first class debut batting at No 6 for Yorkshire at Taunton; a month short of his 17th birthday, he remains one of the county’s youngest ever players.
However, like so many of his generation, his seemingly effortless progress was interrupted in 1953 by National Service. Joining the Army, he spent a good deal of time playing cricket.
Returning to Yorkshire for the 1955 season, he was soon a regular in the side, making the No 3 berth his own. He was capped by the county in 1958, and the following season his 2,000 runs included a career-best 161 not out made against Oxford University.
Needing to beat Sussex at Hove that year to claim their first outright title win in 13 years, Yorkshire were set a challenging target of 215 in 105 minutes. It proved no problem as Padgett made 79 in a 61-minute partnership of 141 with Bryan Stott to claim victory with seven minutes to spare.
Continuing in a similar vein in 1960, he was selected for the final two Tests of the season against South Africa, before being relegated to the England A tour of New Zealand.
He spent winters as a wool sorter in the local textile mills, while each summer of the 1960s brought increasing success for the tightly knit Yorkshire team. Six further championships followed, as did two Gillette Cup triumphs, in 1965 and 1969.
He enjoyed a successful benefit year in 1968: amid 506 first-class appearances he scored 21,124 runs, a total exceeded by only 11 other Yorkshire players. He passed 1,000 runs in a season 12 times, while his occasional bowling claimed six wickets. He also had 261 catches to his name.
Succeeding Arthur Mitchell as Yorkshire coach in 1971, Padgett also took charge of the Second XI from Bob Platt and led them to success in the Minor Counties Championship in 1972 and 1977. Eighteen of his protégés would go on to win England honours, most notably Michael Vaughan, whom he first spotted playing on the outfield during the lunch interval of a county game at Abbeydale Park in Sheffield.
Doug Padgett’s wife died in 2013. He is survived by two daughters and a son.