Ian William Geddes Johnson (8 December 1917 – 9 October 1998) was an Australian cricketer who played 45 Test matches as a slow off-break bowler between 1946 and 1956.
 Johnson captured 109 Test wickets at an average of 29.19 runs per wicket and as a lower order batsman made 1,000 runs at an average of 22.92 runs per dismissal.
 He captained the Australian team in 17 Tests, winning seven and losing five, with a further five drawn.
 Despite this record, he is better known as the captain who lost consecutive Ashes series against England.
 Urbane, well-spoken and popular with his opponents and the public, he was seen by his team mates as a disciplinarian and his natural optimism was often seen as naive.
The 1954-55 Australians lost 3–1 to the touring England team in the 1954-55 Ashes series.
 The Australian teams of the 1940s and early 1950s were strong even after the retirement of Don Bradman as many of his great 1948 side remained.
 Australia had lost only one series since 1932-33, when they lost he Ashes to Len Hutton in the exceptionally close fought 1953 Ashes series, but had played no Test cricket since.
 They had thrashed John Goddard's West Indian team 4–1 in 1951-52 after his triumphant 3-1 win in England, but had surprisingly been held to a 2–2 series draw against Jack Cheetham's South Africans in 1952-53.
 The general opinion in Australia was that they would win the return series, especially after the great victory in the First Test.
 "Although Australian batting was unsound by the old standards the presence of more all-rounders gave them the slightly better chance" wrote E.W. Swanton "all-rounders are said to hold the key to Test matches.
 Australia had four or five to England's one..."
Len Hutton captained the English cricket team in Australia in 1954–55, playing as England against Australia in the 1954-55 Ashes series and as the MCC in other matches on the tour.
 It was the first time that an England team had toured Australia under a professional captain since the 1880s.
 After losing the First Test by an innings, they beat Australia 3-1 and retained the Ashes.
 The combination of Frank Tyson, Brian Statham, Trevor Bailey, Johnny Wardle and Bob Appleyard made it one of the strongest bowling sides to tour Australia, and it was the only team of any nationality to defeat Australia at home between 1932-33 and 1970-71.
The 1958–59 Ashes series consisted of five cricket Test matches, each scheduled for six days with eight ball overs.
 It formed part of the MCC tour of Australia in 1958–59, and the matches outside the Tests were played in the name of the Marylebone Cricket Club.
 The England team led by Peter May was labelled the strongest ever to leave England.
 It had the formidable bowling attack of Fred Trueman, Frank Tyson, Brian Statham, Peter Loader, Jim Laker and Tony Lock; the all-rounder Trevor Bailey; the outstanding wicket-keeper Godfrey Evans; and the batting of Colin Cowdrey, Tom Graveney, Raman Subba Row and Ted Dexter.
 They had won the last three Ashes series in 1953, 1954–55 and 1956, but lost the series 4–0 to Australia.
 It was one of the biggest upsets in Test cricket history and the biggest margin of defeat in an Ashes series since the 5–0 "whitewashing" inflicted by Warwick Armstrong's Australians in 1920–21.
The Adelaide leak was the revelation to the press of a dressing-room incident during the third Test, a cricket match played during the 1932–33 Ashes series between Australia and England, more commonly known as the Bodyline series.
 During the course of play on 14 January 1933, the Australian Test captain Bill Woodfull was struck over the heart by a ball delivered by Harold Larwood.
 Although not badly hurt, Woodfull was shaken and dismissed shortly afterwards.
 On his return to the Australian dressing room, Woodfull was visited by the managers of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team, Pelham Warner and Richard Palairet.
 Warner enquired after Woodfull's health, but the latter dismissed his concerns in brusque fashion.
 He said he did not want to speak to the Englishman owing to the Bodyline tactics England were using, leaving Warner embarrassed and shaken.
 The matter became public knowledge when someone present leaked the exchange to the press and it was widely reported on 16 January.
 Such leaks to the press were practically unknown at the time, and the players were horrified that the confrontation became public knowledge.
The 1954–55 Ashes series consisted of five cricket Test matches, each of six days with five hours play each day and eight ball overs.
 It formed part of the MCC tour of Australia in 1954–55 and the matches outside the Tests were played in the name of the Marylebone Cricket Club.
 The England team was captained by Len Hutton, the first professional cricketer to lead an MCC tour of Australia.
 The Australian team under Ian Johnson was confident of victory, but despite losing the First Test by an innings England won the series 3–1 and retained the Ashes.
 They were the only touring team to win a series in Australia between 1932–33 and 1970–71 and only the second of three touring teams to win a series in Australia from behind (the other two being England in 1911–12 and the West Indies in 1992–93).
 The tour is best remembered for the bowling of Frank "Typhoon" Tyson, who was at the time regarded as the fastest, most frightening bowler ever seen in Australia.
 The series saw a phenomenal concentration of bowling prowess on both sides – four of the bowlers had career Test averages under 21, another five under 25 and the remaining four under 30.
 Unsurprisingly therefore, the ball dominated the bat for most of the series and each side only topped 300 in an innings twice.
 Unlike the following series in 1958–59 there were rarely any umpiring disputes and Keith Miller wrote "Mel McInnes, Colin Hoy and Ron Wright were our leading umpires in the 1954–55 M.C.C. tour of Australia, and I have no hesitation in saying that McInnes gave the finest exhibition of umpiring in a Test series that I have experienced".
The Marylebone Cricket Club tour of Australia in 1954-55 under the captaincy of Len Hutton was its eleventh since it took official control of overseas tours in 1903-1904.
 The touring team played as England in the 1954-55 Ashes series against Australia, but as the MCC in all other games.
 In all there were 23 matches; 5 Test matches (which they won 3-1), 12 other First Class matches (which they won 5-1) and 6 minor matches (which they won 5-0).
 It was the only time that a professional cricketer captained a MCC tour of Australia.
 It was one of the MCC's most successful tours, the Ashes being retained and the team winning five of their victories by an innings.
The England team were very unhappy with the umpiring of the 1958–59 Ashes series, in particular the questionable actions of some bowlers in the Australian team.
 The televising of Test cricket was in its infancy and the notion of Test umpires using slow-motion replays or other modern techniques was considered absurd.
 Instead the umpires had to make judgements based on what they saw in a split-second, and honest mistakes were accepted as part and parcel of the game.
 However, touring teams sometimes felt that there was a natural bias towards the home team which led to some acrimony.
 Keith Miller thought "Mel McInnes, Colin Hoy and Ron Wright were our leading umpires in the 1954-55 M.C.C. tour of Australia, and I have no hesitation in saying that McInnes gave the finest exhibition of umpiring in a Test series that I have experienced".
 The England team thought well of him too, but in 1958-59 he lost the confidence of the England players and himself, appeared hesitant and gave some surprising decisions.
 In the Fourth Test he hesitated to give Ken Mackay out even after the batsman walked after snicking a catch off Brian Statham.
 Later Colin McDonald should have been run out when Fred Trueman flattened the stumps after his runner Jim Burke ran round the back of McInnes.
 McInnes gave him out, but then changed his mind and gave him not out as he had not seen whether Burke had made the run or not.
 On his next ball McDonald sportingly pulled his bat out of the way of the stumps to give Trueman "the easiest Test wicket I have ever taken".
 Trueman was affected again when he batted, given out caught by Wally Grout off Richie Benaud when he had dropped his bat and missed the ball.
 The England team became dispirited by the umpiring mistakes and, believing the officials to be against them, lost heart.
 As Fred Trueman wrote
The 1950–51 Ashes series consisted of five cricket Test matches, each of six days with five hours play each day and eight ball overs.
 It formed part of the MCC tour of Australia in 1950–51 and the matches outside the Tests were played in the name of the Marylebone Cricket Club.
 The England team under the captaincy of the big-hearted all-rounder Freddie Brown was regarded as the weakest sent to Australia and "without Bedser and Hutton, England would have been little better than a club side".
 Few gave them a chance of regaining the Ashes and they lost the series 4–1 to Lindsay Hassett's Australian team, which had far greater reserves of talent.
 In the Fifth and final Test England beat Australia for the first time since 1938 and ended their unbeaten run of 14 Tests against England, 26 Tests against all teams and 96 games in all cricket since the Second World War.
 After this victory England would defeat Australia in 1953, 1954–55 and 1956.
The 1950-51 Australians defeated the touring England team 4-1 in the 1950-51 Ashes series, Australia's last Ashes success until 1958-59.
 The series was tilted the balance from the powerful Australian teams of the 1940s to the strong England teams of the 1950s.
 While in the end they won easily the team made heavy weather of defeating a weak touring team and would lose the next three hard-fought Ashes series.
 The newly knighted Sir Donald Bradman had retired from cricket, but most of his great 1948 Australian team still played and Australia had not lost a Test series since 1932-33.

Question: The 1954–55 Ashes series had an Australian team that was led by which 17-time Australian Test captain?
Answer: Ian William Geddes Johnson