The super double International Andy Ducat- Cricket first, football second
Double International in football and cricket, Andy Ducat, was one of Arsenals most loyal players during the early 20th Century and inducted into The Arsenal hall of fame as the 43rd greatest player of all-time.
Ducat ended up playing 188 games for then Woolwich Arsenal in a seven year career spanning from 1905 to 1912 rounding up 21 goals to his name. His first runout for The Gunners came in a 2-0 win against Blackburn Rovers in early February 1905.
However his greatest achievement in the game came in 1920 when he skippered Aston Villa to FA Cup glory after Huddersfield Town were defeated 1-0 in extra-time.
The attacker would attract International attention being capped for England on six occasions between 1910 and 1920 scoring once when he single handily ensured a 1-0 victory over Wales.
Not long after leaving Villa Park in 1921 where he had gone to originally in 1912 for £1,000 due to financial dilemmas at Woolwich Arsenal, Ducat turned his attention to South London. For the next five years he would play (1921-1924) and take charge of Fulham (1924-1926) however due to a lack of success he was dismissed. He was then very stingingly given permission by the FA to play for Casuals who had most famously joined forces with Old Carthusians in 1890, in the FA Cup, who had previously lifted the trophy nearly a decade earlier.
At heart Ducat was a cricketer, like a number of other footballers in his time where he batted and bowled at International and County level.
He heralded 52 mighty centuries whilst with Surrey and appeared in one Test game the 3rd test versus Australia in 1921.
Overall he picked up 23,373 runs at an average of 38.31 in top-flight cricket.
In his impressive County cricket career from 1909 to 1931 with Surrey he played in 429 First-class county games after having started off at the Oval in 1906, transforming from a ground staff member to a proper cricketer not long afterwards.
Ducat well known for his fiercely excellent reputation received merit in 1920 after being voted one of the Wisden Cricketer’s of the year. He was very fortunate to be handed the accolade after having suffered from a leg break eight years earlier in 1912 which nearly saw his career capitulate. The cricketer who gathered 306 not out versus Oxford University at The Oval in 1919 returned to hospital again come 1924 when he broke his arm in nets.
His talent came through in particular in 1914 when he scored four centuries in Championships games, witnessing him come second in the Surrey averages.
Ducat eventually left his life out on the cricket field when in 1942 he died only aged 56 from a heart attack, during a wartime match at England’s Lords Cricket Ground, between his Surrey home guard unit and Sussex’s.
