Ian Johnson (cricketer) - Personal Life

Personal Life

In 1942, aged 24, Johnson married 19-year-old Lal Park, the daughter of former Test cricketer, Dr Roy Park. They were married for 56 years and had two sons, Bill and Bob. After the war, when cricket commitments allowed, Johnson worked as a salesman. Immediately following his retirement, Johnson spent some time as one of the first television sporting commentators in Australia, covering the 1956 Summer Olympics, held in his home town of Melbourne. He wrote a book; Cricket at the crossroads, published in 1957.

The following year, Johnson was chosen from a group of 44 candidates for the position of secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club. The position—previously held by Test cricketers Hugh Trumble and Vernon Ransford—is one of the most prestigious jobs in Australian cricket. During a time of "dramatic change", he helped to maintain the Melbourne Cricket Ground's ("MCG") pre-eminence as a sporting arena. Johnson managed the club and the ground through some major redevelopment, keeping a balance between the competing interests of Australian rules football and cricket. For services to sports administration, he was appointed an Officer in the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1976. He played a leading part in organising the Centenary Test, held at the MCG in 1977.

For 20 years, he served as a member of the Victorian state Parole board. After serving Melbourne Cricket Club for 26 years, he retired to spend more time at his home in the southern Melbourne suburb of Albert Park and his holiday house in Torquay. In 1982, his OBE was upgraded, when he was appointed a Commander in the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to cricket. He died in Melbourne in 1998 following a long illness.