Cricket 1906

CR ICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. DEC. 20, 1906, “ T o g e th e r jo in e d in C r ick e t ’ s m a n ly t o i l . ” — Byron. no. 739 . v o i. xxv . THURSDAY, DEC. 2 0 , 1 9 0 6 . p r ic e aa. Old writers are unanimous in praising the delivery of his bowling. He took six steps, was perfectly upright of figure, and the ball—arm, of course, level with shoulder—was sent in at lightning speed. In his earlier days, however, Daft says he ran, as most bowlers do, to the crease. It has always seemed to me that those old fast bowlers of low delivery (I re­ member Allen Hill in the eighties who delivered in much the same way as Mr. single-wicket matches he played for con­ siderable sums. In thesehewasinvariably successful. He was an all-round man of giant build, six feet one inch in height, and weighing, ia Daft’s early days—the late fifties—22 or 23 stone, thoughsome­ what less when at his best; there was no clumsiness about him, but only graceful­ ness in everymovement. He was taught cricket by Mr. John Willes, a famous Kent player of a hundred years ago. Mynn is described as bowling) were more difficult both to play and to hit than those of higher over-armstyle. Shooters, too, were very frequent with them. We hardly ever see a shooter now. But when a shooter does come, or even a ball that keeps very low, like J. T. Hearne often bowls, it nearly always gets a wicket. A man who plays a shooter is loudly applauded. But in Mynn’a time, and even up to the time of W. G.’s best days, for good batsmen to play shooters was of common occur­ rence. One wonders whether Mr. C. B. Fry has ever played a real shooter. He could hardly do so at Brighton, even if he would! W. G. has oftenbeen compared with Mynn, and there are many points of similarity, both being men of commanding presence, and towering also above all con­ temporaries as regards all-round performances. To W. G., too, were the pads of the great Alfred once sent aB being the only man worthy to “ don the armour of Achilles.” In Mynn’s day the pad protected only the shin. It did not cover the knee. Mynn was once within an ace of having hisleg amputated after receiving repeated blows from Redgate’s fast bowling. The worthy medicos of those days, in their z-al for operating, wished to amputate the leg at the thigh. Alfred was willing to lose the limb, from the knee downwards, but objected to lose the whole limb. Happily, as so often happens, the gloomy imaginings of the doctors were not realised, and in less than two years Alfred was himself again, to gain fresh laurels in the game he loved. Mynn’a fame was as an all-round player, but, looking at his records one would say that he was greater as a bowler than a batsman. As a batsman he could hardly be deemed the equal of Fuller Pilch, who for twenty years was the recognised champion batsman. For his time Mynn’s scores were high, and with Mr. 0. G. Taylor’s, exceeded those of all other amateurs, but they could^not compare with Fuller’s. Pilch i n't C R I C K E T C H A M P I O N S : No . 4. Mu. ALFRED MYNN. B y the E ev . H a ro ld A . T ate . January 19th, 1807, was the day when the greatest all-round cricketer of his time was given to the world. Before the next issue of Cricket one hundred years will have rolled by since that day. “ Alfred Mynn ! ” What memories and reflections the name conjures up of days less strenuous, iudeed, but with far more of the “ otium cum dignitate ” of existence. We recall the “ Don,” as Richard Daft says he used to be called, standing, attired in “bell-toppec” lofty and quaint of shape, erect as a soldier on parade, ball in hand, on a sward of close-mowed velvety grass, with fields and windmills in the distance, and tents and knots of spectators dotting here and there the field. We reflect that cricket in these days was truly sport andpastiuie; it had not become a profession. Of course, the cricketer who gaveup his time to the gamewas recompensed, if necessary, in accordance with his state in life, and a gentleman could play as an amateur, receiving an honor­ ariumfor—lossoftimewithoutloss of public esteem—a thing which, in our more snobbish days, when great wealth, and not merely competence, seems the great desideratum,andwhentheprivate affairs of cricketers are made public property through the gossipping interviewers of the halfpenny papers, would be im­ possible. Alfred Mynn came of the stock which more than any other has contributed to England’s greatness and produced our Empire-builders— the yeomanry—the very sinew, bone and nerve of old England. His people were, and had been for cen­ turies, gentlemen farmers at Goud­ hurst, in Kent. They were not rich, and Alfred’s cricketing abilities being early recognised, it was necessary that if he played he should be recompensed for loss of time. Hence the large number of