John Douglas Sandford (3 August 1832 – 26 May 1892) was an English first-class cricketer and a judicial official in the Indian Civil Service.

The son of future Archdeacon of Coventry John Sandford,^[1] he was born in August 1832 at Chillingham, Northumberland. He was educated at Rugby School,^[2] before going up to Trinity College, Oxford.^[3] While studying at Oxford, he made two appearances in first-class cricket for Oxford University against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1855 and 1856.^[4]

After graduating from Oxford, Sandford joined the Indian Civil Service in 1856, where he served in the North-Western Provinces and rose up the judicial system in British India to become the judicial commissioner of Burma and Mysore.^[5] He returned to England in 1868, where became a student of the Inner Temple at the age of 36, and was called to the bar in June 1870.^[6] The year following his return to England, and thirteen years after his previous appearance in first-class cricket, Sandford played a first-class match for the MCC against Oxford University at Oxford.^[4] After being called to the bar, he returned to British India where he practiced as a barrister until his departure in 1882. He retired two years later in 1884.^[5] Sandford died in May 1892 at Windsor, Berkshire.^[2]

Born into and ecclesiastical family, his younger brother, Ernest, was the Archdeacon of Exeter (in addition to being a first-class cricketer), and his elder brother, Charles, who was the Bishop of Gibraltar.^[7] His grandfather, Daniel Sandford, was the Bishop of Edinburgh. His nephew, Temple Sandford, was also a first-class cricketer.

• John Douglas Sandford at ESPNcricinfo