Randall Johnson

Peter Randall Johnson (5 August 1880 – 1 July 1959) was a cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Somerset and several amateur sides in a long first-class cricket career that stretched from 1900 to 1927. During his career, he appears to have been known, somewhat formally, as "P. R. Johnson"; modern websites refer to him as "Randall Johnson". Somerset colleague Jack MacBryan, who didn't like him, called him "Peter Johnson".

The son of George Randall Johnson who had captained Cambridge University at cricket in the 1850s and also played first-class cricket for Cambridgeshire, Johnson was born in New Zealand, where his father was a member of the state legislature from 1872 to 1890. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge.

Johnson made his first-class debut for Cambridge University in a match against A. J. Webbe's XI in 1900, and played in five other first-class matches for the university side that season, without winning his blue. In his third game, he made 54 against MCC.

His record in 1901 was similar, with one score of over 50 – he made 55 in the Cambridge match against Yorkshire. But this time he was awarded his blue and played in the University match against Oxford University alongside his future Somerset county captain John Daniell. In this match and others in 1900 and 1901, Johnson was regarded as something of an all-rounder: he bowled right-arm fast, and took three second innings Oxford wickets for 41 runs in the 1901 University match. This was not his best bowling performance of the 1901 season. Against W. G. Grace's London County side, he took four for 99 and these remained the best bowling figures of his long career. In fact, 17 of the 20 wickets he took in his career came in these first two seasons: he bowled seldom after 1902, and after 1906 he bowled only twice more in first-class cricket.