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Full name Douglas Vivian Parson Wright
Born August 21, 1914, Sidcup, Kent
Died November 13, 1998, Canterbury, Kent (aged 84 years 84 days)
Major teams England,Kent
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium, Legbreak googly
Other Coach
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
100
50
6s
Ct
St
Tests
34
39
13
289
45
11.11
0
0
0
10
0
First-class
497
703
225
5903
84*
12.34
0
16
182
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
34
59
8135
4224
108
7/105
10/175
39.11
3.11
75.3
3
6
1
First-class
497
92960
49307
2056
9/47
23.98
3.18
45.2
150
42
Career statistics
Test debut
England v Australia at Nottingham, Jun 10-14, 1938 scorecard
Last Test
New Zealand v England at Wellington, Mar 24-28, 1951 scorecard
Test statistics
First-class span
1932 - 1957
Profile
Wisden obituary
Doug Wright was the finest English leg-spinner, perhaps the most dangerous of all English bowlers, in the years just before and after the war. A Kentishman, from Sidcup, he made his debut for the county in 1932 aged 17, but did not become a regular for another four years until Tich Freeman's final season. By 1938, he was in the Test team against Australia, and at Leeds came close to bowling them to a remarkable victory, dismissing Bradman, McCabe and Hassett as Australia sought a mere 105 for victory. For most of his 34 Tests, he was bowling in difficult circumstances with little support. Often he was the spin attack, as in Australia in 1946-47 when he and Bedser bowled almost 500 eight-ball overs between them. Against South Africa at Lord's in 1947, he took ten for 175, but there were many more days of abject frustration.
Wright began as a quick bowler who liked to turn his wrist and slip in the odd spinner; later he reversed the proportions. But his quicker ball remained so fast that Godfrey Evans had to signal the slips to move deeper, and even his stock ball had a rare fizz to it. Everyone agreed - and Bradman and Hammond were among his chief admirers - that on his day Wright was unplayable. But he gave the batsmen a chance to score too. With his technique, wrote David Frith, running in from over 15 yards, hopping and skipping as he went, and whipping over a wristy and finger-spun ball that would dip, bounce and deviate crazily off the pitch, to expect long-term accuracy was to display a dismal ignorance of physics. He never ever bowled a ball defensively, said Lord Cowdrey, his team-mate at Kent. Every ball was bowled to take a wicket.
He took seven hat-tricks, more than anyone else in history, and 100 wickets in a season ten times. In 1954, Doug Wright became Kent's first professional captain, though his natural diffidence did not obviously lend itself to leadership and, as so often in his career, he had a weak team around him: Kent slid nearer the bottom each season. At the end of each day, he would take his shoes and socks off and apologise to his poor old feet. "Sorry, boys," he would say, "but you're going to be needed again tomorrow." He retired aged 43, and in 1959 succeeded George Geary as coach at Charterhouse. Everyone liked Doug Wright. Cowdrey remembers him being asked about the best over he ever bowled. "Bowling to the Don at Lord's, he said. Every ball came out of my hand the way I wanted and pitched where I wanted. I beat him twice. It went for 16."
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
