Alfred Johns

Alfred Edward Johns was an Australian cricketer who played first-class cricket for Australia and Victoria between 1895 and 1899.

Personal life

Born in Hawthorn, Melbourne, he was one of eight children of Elizabeth and Peter Johns, founder of the lift manufacturing firm Johns & Waygood. After attending Wesley College in Melbourne he studied law and practised as a lawyer in Melbourne. He gave up the law in 1899 when his father died, and succeeded his father as director of Johns & Waygood. Johns died in 1934 in Melbourne, aged 66.

Cricket career

Johns made his first-class debut for Victoria in a match against the touring English [cricket team in Australia in 1894–95|English team] in March 1895. A wicket-keeper and left-handed batsman, he toured with the Australian national team to England twice, in 1896 and 1899, without playing in a Test Match. Unusually for an Australian player, over half of Johns' first-class matches were played in England rather than Australia.
Johns returned early from the 1899 tour of England when his father died, and retired from cricket immediately. Tom Horan wrote at the time that Johns was the best wicket-keeper Australia had ever had, apart from Jack Blackham.