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| Full name | Andrew Ducat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1886-02-15)15 February 1886 Brixton, Surrey, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 23 July 1942(1942-07-23) (aged 56) Lord's Cricket Ground,St John's Wood, London, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Mac[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm slow | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Only Test | 2 July 1921 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:Cricinfo,17 December 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Andrew Ducat (15 February 1886 – 23 July 1942) was an Englishcricketer andfootballer. He played internationally for both theEngland cricket team andEngland football team, one of a small group of players to have represented their country inboth sports. Domestically he played forSurrey County Cricket Club and forWoolwich Arsenal,Aston Villa, andFulham football clubs. He died while batting atLord's.[1]
Ducat was born inBrixton, at that point still part ofSurrey, but grew up inSouthend inEssex. The cricket writerDavid Foot said his surname was "pronounced 'Dewkitt' by the family, 'Duckett' on the football terraces".[1] In theFirst World War, he served in theRoyal Garrison Artillery, from 1915, and was promoted toCompany Quartermaster Sergeant in 1916 until being discharged due to 'disability' in 1919.[2]
Ducat joined the ground staff atThe Oval in 1906, and soon became a regular member of the Surrey county team, playing alongsideTom Hayward,Jack Hobbs andErnest Hayes. Standing 5'10" high, he was a powerful, forcing batsman, and made 52 centuries for Surrey, including 306 not out in 280 minutes against theOxford University in 1919.[1] He was also one of theWisden Cricketers of the Year in 1920. He missed many matches due to injury: a broken leg in 1912 almost ended his career, and he missed the 1924 season after breaking his arm in the nets. In 1928, he made 994 runs in less than six weeks, including centuries in four successive matches. In 1921 it was said that he was one of the most dangerous batsmen in England that is not quite first class, but his defence was not sound enough to bring him consistent success against the best bowlers.[3]
He played in only oneTest, the 3rd Test againstAustralia atHeadingley in 1921 when he was unlucky to only make 3 and 2. He was "doubly" out in the first innings: his bat disintegrated when he played a ball bowled byTed McDonald, the ball looping to slip where it was caught, and part of the bat dislodging a bail. He was given out caught rather thanhit wicket.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position(s) | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1903–1905 | Southend Athletic | ||
| 1905–1912 | Woolwich Arsenal | 175 | (19) |
| 1912–1921 | Aston Villa | 74 | (4) |
| 1921–1924 | Fulham | 64 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1910–1920 | England | 6 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1924–1926 | Fulham | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ducat also had a successfulfootball career. He started out playing for non-league Southend Athletic before joiningFirst DivisionWoolwich Arsenal in 1905.
He made his Arsenal debut on 11 February 1905, in a 2–0 win againstBlackburn Rovers, playing atcentre forward. After losing his place in1906–07, he was later switched toright half and became a regular in1907–08 and1908–09. During his time at Arsenal, he won three caps forEngland, with his debut coming againstIreland inBelfast on 12 February 1910; England won 6–1. On his second appearance for England, againstWales on 14 March the same year, Ducat scored the only goal in a 1–0 win.
Ducat's ability and success with England brought attention from bigger clubs than Arsenal, who were at the time going through a financial crisis. Eventually, he was sold for £1,000 to England's most successful clubAston Villain 1912, having played 188 matches and scored 21 goals for Arsenal. After suffering a broken leg in his first season at Villa, he recovered to become a stalwart in the side, captaining Villa to their sixthFA Cup win in1919–20, beatingHuddersfield Town. He also regained his England place; having not played since 1910, he won three more caps during 1920, the last coming in a 2–0 win against Ireland atRoker Park on 23 October 1920, bringing his total number of England appearances to six.
He moved toFulham in 1921, and upon his retirement from playing in 1924, he succeededPhil Kelso (his former boss at Arsenal) as Fulham manager. However, the Cottagers struggled with Ducat in charge, finishing 12th and 19th in theSecond Division during the two seasons he was at the helm. He was sacked in 1926. After his departure from Fulham, he was given permission by theFA to play football for theCasuals.[2]
Ducat married on 20 June 1914 at St Stephen's Church,Hounslow, Vera Barbour, daughter ofAston Villa footballer Horace Barbour. They had one daughter together.[2]
After retiring from cricket in 1931, Ducat became a cricket coach atEton College until his death. He was also a sports reporter for theDaily Sketch.[1] He died suddenly in 1942 during a game atLord's Cricket Ground of an apparentheart attack after lunch whilst playing in awartime cricket match between teams from his unit of theHome Guard from Surrey against another from Sussex.[4] The match was immediately abandoned as a mark of respect for Ducat. He was aged 56, and he is the only person to have died while playing in a match at Lord's. He was cremated atGolders Green Crematorium.[2]
