Derbyshire County Cricket Club is sad to announce the death earlier this week of HL ‘Laurie’ Johnson at the age of 92. He was the county’s oldest surviving cricketer.
Laurie Johnson was born in Barbados in 1927 and came to England as part of a group of sugar industry workers after World War II. He was invited to play at Swarkestone Cricket Club in the south of the county alongside several fellow countryman and was soon spotted by Derbyshire. He made his county debut in 1949 as an amateur and became a professional in 1955, by which time he had adapted to English pitches and developed into a hard-hitting and enterprising middle order batsman.
Capped in 1958, he scored 14,233 first class runs – the 9th most for Derbyshire – with 16 hundreds and a top score of 154. An occasional bowler, he took 21 wickets and played as wicket-keeper on 8 occasions.
His final game for the county was in 1966, having been awarded a Benefit in 1965.
Everyone connected with the club would like to extend their condolences and good wishes to the family and friends on the loss of a fine Derbyshire cricketer.
