Ian Johnson (cricketer)

Ian William Geddes Johnson, was an Australian cricketer who played 45 Test matches as a slow off-break bowler between 1946 and 1956. Johnson captured 109 Test wickets at an average of 29.19 runs per wicket and as a capable lower order batsman made 1,000 runs at an average of 18.51 runs per dismissal. He captained the Australian team in 17 Tests, winning seven and losing five, with a further five drawn. Despite this record, he is better known as the captain who lost consecutive Ashes series against England. Urbane, well-spoken and popular with his opponents and the public, he was seen by his teammates as a disciplinarian and his natural optimism was often seen as naive.

8 December 1917

Born on the same birth day (8 December): Bob Brown (offensive lineman) • Bob Greene (fitness) • Christian Wilhelmsson • Eli Whitney • Emma Green (athlete) • James MacArthur • James Thurber • Jan Ingenhousz • Lee J. Cobb • Matthew Labyorteaux • Mirosław Okoński • Nicki Minaj • Robert Sternberg • Scott McTominay • Tim Foli

Born in the same month (December 1917): Arthur C. Clarke • Cahit Külebi • Dean Hess • Heinrich Böll • James Jesus Angleton • James Rainwater • Ken Downing • Lincoln Verduga Loor • Marty Marion • Onni Palaste • Pete Cenarrusa • Sylvia Syms (singer) • T. Nadaraja • Thomas Hayward (tenor) • Tom Bradley (mayor)