A successful though, at times, controversial England captain, Douglas Jardine was born on October 23, 1900 and passed away on June 18, 1958. His obituary appeared in the 1959 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.
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JARDINE, MR. DOUGLAS ROBERT, who died in Switzerland on June 18, aged 57, was one of England’s best captains and a leading amateur batsman of his time. He caught tick fever while visiting Southern Rhodesia in 1957 and thenceforward had been in poor health.
Son of M. R. Jardine, himself an Oxford Blue, Douglas Jardine was born at Bombay and educated at Winchester, where he was in the XI for three years, being captain in the last, 1919, when he headed the batting figures with 997 runs, average 66.46. Going up to New College, Oxford, he got his Blue as a Freshman and played against Cambridge in 1920, 1921 and 1923 without achieving anything out of the ordinary. He missed the 1922 University match because of a damaged knee. In 1923 he began to play for Surrey and in 1932 took over the captaincy from P. G. H. Fender.
Jardine captained the M.C.C. team in India the following winter, but thereafter his appearances on the field became fewer till in 1937 he dropped out of first-class cricket altogether. At the same time he maintained his interest in the game, being President of the Oxford University C.C. from 1955 to 1957 and making occasional contributions to the Press. In 1953 he became the first President of the Association of Cricket Umpires.
Six feet tall, he possessed a very strong defence and was specially skilful in on-side strokes. In 22 Test match appearances he hit 1,296 runs, average 48, and held 26 catches. During his career his runs numbered 14,821, average 46.90, the highest of his 35 centuries being 214 not out against Tasmania in 1928-29. Extremely proud of his Oxford associations, he always wore a Harlequin cap.
R. Aird: “Jardine was a great player and captain and a man of character who, like all men of character, was not liked by everybody. He did what he set out to do, as when his side won the ‘Ashes’ in Australia in 1932/33, even if the method he adopted did not meet with general approval. His sound, solid batting inspired confidence in his colleagues.”
