51 Facts About Ivan Johnson

Ivan Nicholas Johnson was a professional, all rounder, English first-class cricketer who played for Worcestershire County Cricket Club from 1972 to 1975.

Ivan Johnson was the only Bahamian to have worked as a staff sub-editor and journalist on newspapers in Fleet Street.

In 1990, Ivan Johnson founded The Punch, a controversial Bahamian tabloid newspaper.

Ivan Johnson was born in 1953 in Nassau, Bahamas, to a Bahamian father and an English mother.

In 1943 and 1944, Basil Ivan Johnson flew fifty war-time bombing missions in Avro Lancaster bomber aircraft for the Pathfinder 156 squadron.

Ivan Johnson was the only black Bahamian to fly in the British Royal Air Force during World War II.

Ivan Johnson's grandfather, Thomas Tot Walsh, was a professional footballer who was a centre-forward for the Bolton Wanderers and Crystal Palace.

Ivan Johnson was educated at Queen's College, Nassau, Bahamas and the Seaford Court Preparatory School at Malvern Link, Worcestershire.

Ivan Johnson later studied Spanish during a summer break at the University of Valladolid.

In 1966, at age 13, Ivan Johnson was the first boy to score a century for Seaford Court Preparatory School.

Ivan Johnson was the first and only boy to hit a straight six, a huge distance over the sight screen, into the adjoining field.

From 1968 to 1971, Ivan Johnson was a player in the Malvern XI and was its captain in 1971.

Ivan Johnson played for the All-England Schools senior and junior teams.

Ivan Johnson was a member of Malvern's soccer first XI in the 1969 to 1970 season and the rackets first pair in the 1970 to 1971 season.

Ivan Johnson scored a total of 438 runs with an average of 62.57.

In June 1972, at age 18, Ivan Johnson made his first-class debut for Worcestershire in a drawn match against Oxford University.

Ivan Johnson was retained for the County Championship match against Warwickshire County Cricket Club, taking 0 for 28 in eight overs in a match that was rained off.

In July 1972, Johnson took 7 for 57 for the Second XI against Warwickshire II and then was recalled to the firsts, where he remained for six games, three at first-class and three in List A In a John Player League one-day match, Johnson took two vital wickets, allowing Worcestershire to beat Nottinghamshire by 38 runs.

Ivan Johnson spent the remainder of the 1972 season on a tour of the West Indies with the England Under-19 cricket team.

Ivan Johnson topped the batting averages in the junior test matches.

Ivan Johnson scored 438 runs, including a century and three half-centuries, at an average of 62.57.

Ivan Johnson was the only Young England player to score a century on the tour.

In Jamaica, Ivan Johnson scored 110 not out at Jarrett Park and 74 at Sabina Park.

Ivan Johnson took wickets with his slow left-arm spin bowling, notably 4 for 37 at Bourda in Georgetown, Guyana.

Ivan Johnson played 21 first-class games, scoring 475 runs at 20.65, including three half-centuries, and took 15 wickets, albeit at an average of 51.

Ivan Johnson dropped an easy caught-and-bowled catch from Asif Iqbal, and the wicketkeeper, Rodney Cass, missed a chance to stump Brian Luckhurst from Johnson's bowling.

In 1973, Ivan Johnson played in a John Player League 40-over one-day game for Worcestershire against Nottinghamshire at Dudley.

Ivan Johnson was only able to take two runs and finished 36 not out.

In 1973, Ivan Johnson played for Worcestershire against the touring New Zealand team at Worcester.

Ivan Johnson scored 36 not out to help Worcestershire avoid a follow-on.

Early in Turner's innings, Ivan Johnson bowled and Alan Ormrod unusually, dropped at slip.

In 1974, at Hull, Ivan Johnson played in a memorable match against Yorkshire.

In 1980 in his autobiography, Time to Declare, D'Oliveira wrote that Ivan Johnson scored a useful 27 runs to help D'Oliveira to 227, his highest score in first-class cricket.

The Yorkshire bowler Richard Hutton, grew increasingly frustrated with Ivan Johnson, who was making streaky shots through the slips and gully area off Hutton's medium-pace bowling.

Ivan Johnson returned as a medium-pace bowler and middle-order batsman.

Ivan Johnson then popped it back into its socket and carried on bowling to Johnson.

Early in 1975, at age 21, Ivan Johnson announced his plan to leave the Worcestershire team in the following September to pursue an interest in journalism.

Ivan Johnson did play for the Old Malvernians in The Cricketer Cup, a 55-overs per team knock-out competition for the Old Boys of Britain's thirty-two leading private schools.

Ivan Johnson played two match-winning innings to propel the Old Malvernians to the Cup final.

Ivan Johnson top-scored with 70 runs against Old Tonbridgians and 72 runs against the Old Carthusians.

Ivan Johnson scored 21 runs and took 3 wickets for 22 in 9.3 overs.

Ivan Johnson went on tours with El Vino's XI to Alderney, Jersey, Guernsey and Gibraltar.

Ivan Johnson was a captain of the Hampstead-Abraxas squash club.

From 1985 to 1987, while a sub-editor in Australia, Ivan Johnson played in the Sydney pennant championship for the Hiscoes squash club of Surry Hills, Sydney.

Ivan Johnson played for the Bahamas in the North Caribbean Squash Championships in 1995.

From 1972, during the English county cricket off-season winter months, Ivan Johnson was employed as a trainee reporter on The Tribune newspaper in Nassau.

Ivan Johnson worked at the Hemel Hempstead Evening Post-Echo and studied at the Harlow College of Journalism in Essex.

Ivan Johnson agreed to act as the newspaper's chief reporter up to the 1977 general election.

In 1985, Ivan Johnson was seconded to Australia and worked as a sub-editor at The Daily Mirror, The Townsville Bulletin and The Sunday Times.

Ivan Johnson worked as a freelance sub-editor for the London Sun, News of the World and The Sunday Times before gaining employment as a staff sub-editor at the Daily Star.

Ivan Johnson died on 4 October 2021 at the age of 68 after a heart attack.