{{Short description|English cricketer (1934–2024)}} {{EngvarB|date=August 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Doug Padgett | image = DougPadgett.jpg | caption = | fullname = Douglas Ernest Vernon Padgett | birth_date = {{birth date|1934|7|20|df=y}} | birth_place = Bradford, Yorkshire, England | death_date = {{death date and age|2024|1|20|1934|7|20|df=y}} | death_place = Bradford, Yorkshire, England | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Right-arm medium | club1 = Yorkshire | year1 = 1951–1971 | international = true | country = England | testcap = 401 | testdebutagainst = South Africa | testdebutdate = 21 July | testdebutyear = 1960 | lasttestdate = 18 August | lasttestagainst = South Africa | lasttestyear = 1960 | columns = 3 | column1 = Test | matches1 = 2 | runs1 = 51 | bat avg1 = 12.75 | 100s/50s1 = –/– | top score1 = 31 | deliveries1 = 12 | wickets1 = 0 | bowl avg1 = – | fivefor1 = – | tenfor1 = – | best bowling1 = – | catches/stumpings1= –/– | column2 = FC | matches2 = 506 | runs2 = 21,124 | bat avg2 = 28.58 | 100s/50s2 = 32/98 | top score2 = 161* | deliveries2 = 586 | wickets2 = 6 | bowl avg2 = 36.00 | fivefor2 = – | tenfor2 = – | best bowling2 = 1/2 | catches/stumpings2= 261/– | column3 = LA | matches3 = 57 | runs3 = 1,069 | bat avg3 = 20.96 | 100s/50s3 = –/2 | top score3 = 68 | deliveries3 = 24 | wickets3 = 1 | bowl avg3 = 25.00 | fivefor3 = – | tenfor3 = – | best bowling3 = 1/25 | catches/stumpings3= 13/– | date = 24 January | year = 2024 | source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/doug-padgett-18393 Cricinfo }}
'''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 in Tests twice, both in 1960. Cricket writer Colin Bateman recorded Padgett was, "nimble, happy anywhere in the order, he was a great technician and one of the best batsmen of his era on a bad wicket".<ref name="Cap"/>
==Life and career== Born 20 July 1934,<ref name="Cap">{{cite book|title=If The Cap Fits|last=Bateman|first=Colin|year=1993|publisher=Tony Williams Publications|isbn=1-869833-21-X|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ifcapfits0000unse/page/100 100, 128]|url=https://archive.org/details/ifcapfits0000unse/page/100}}</ref> 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, aged just 16 years and 320 days. Paul Jarvis broke Padgett's record in 1981.<ref name="Cap"/>
Following his National Service, 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-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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/18393.html|title=Doug Padgett|website=Cricinfo|accessdate=3 September 2017}}</ref>
In 1960, a tour by the South Africans, 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 The Oval Test match for slow batting in the second innings.<ref>{{cite book|title=''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' 1961|page=303}}</ref>
Padgett went to New Zealand the following winter on an extensive Marylebone Cricket Club (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.<ref name="Cap"/> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/7960341.Cricket__Yorkshire_hero_reveals_how_he_rejected_chance_to_move/?ref=arc|title=Cricket: Yorkshire hero reveals how he rejected chance to move|website=York Press|date=20 December 1999 |accessdate=3 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://yorkshireccc.com/news/view/2932/many-happy-returns-bryan-stott-doug-padgett|title=Many happy returns Bryan Stott & Doug Padgett|website=Yorkshire County Cricket Club|accessdate=3 September 2017|archive-date=3 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903162238/https://yorkshireccc.com/news/view/2932/many-happy-returns-bryan-stott-doug-padgett|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Padgett retired from playing in 1971, much to the frustration of the new captain, Geoffrey Boycott, who relied on his counsel.<ref>Leo McKinstry, [https://www.amazon.com/Boycs-True-Story-Leo-McKinstry/dp/1852252790 ''Boycs: The True Story''], Partridge Press (4 May 2000); {{ISBN|1852252790}}/{{ISBN|978-1852252793}}</ref> Padgett then captained Yorkshire's second eleven, becoming assistant, then head coach.<ref>{{cite book|last=Martin-Jenkins|first=Christopher|authorlink=Christopher Martin-Jenkins|title=The Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers|edition=1st|year=1980|publisher=Orbis Publishing|location=London, UK|isbn=0-85613-283-7|chapter=England|page=98}}</ref>
Padgett died on 20 January 2024, at the age of 89.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=Former Yorkshire and England cricketer Doug Padgett dies |url=https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/24064337.former-yorkshire-england-cricketer-doug-padgett-dies/ |access-date=21 January 2024 |publisher=Telegraph & Argus |date=21 January 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Padgett, Doug}} Category:1934 births Category:2024 deaths Category:English cricketers Category:England Test cricketers Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Category:Yorkshire cricketers Category:International Cavaliers cricketers Category:Combined Services cricketers Category:People from Idle, West Yorkshire Category:Sportspeople from the City of Bradford Category:Cricketers from West Yorkshire Category:Cricketers from Bradford Category:Players cricketers Category:T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers Category:English cricketers of 1946 to 1968 Category:20th-century English sportsmen