The Doug Wright Collection

Doug Wright made his debut for Kent in 1932 and went on to represent the County in 397 matches until his retirement twenty-five years later.

In 1953, he became the first professional player to serve as Captain of Kent, the post having only previously been awarded to amateurs.

He was universally respected among team-mates and opponents alike throughout the cricketing world.

Wright was a unique leg-spin and googly bowler, delivering the ball at medium pace from a run up that was a remarkable combination of swoops, hops and jumps. On his day, he could be devastating as his world record SEVEN hat-tricks in first-class cricket suggest.

According to the legendary Australian batsman Sir Donald Bradman, Wright was the bowler he feared the most as he could deliver the perfect, unplayable delivery.

Doug Wright stands 4th in the list of leading wicket-takers for Kent with 1,709 wickets at an average of 22.68. In addition, he took 108 wickets for England in 34 Test Matches between 1938 and 1951. One can only imagine how his career record would have been if he hadn’t lost six seasons due to World War II whilst just reaching the peak of his abilities.

Wright’s 2,000th career wicket was claimed at Canterbury in August 1956 and we are proud to have the ball used at the time in the Kent Cricket collection. We are also proud to hold a number of other items, some of which have kindly been donated by members of his family.

Once his playing days were over, Doug was engaged as coach at Charterhouse until his retirement in 1971. He later tutored young cricketers at the University of Kent at Canterbury.