Lives in Cricket No 42 - Frank and George Mann

48 Having accepted the invitation to send a party for a tour of South Africa in the winter of 1922/23, MCC found the perfect group of selectors to put together a balanced group under a new captain. The previous captain, Lionel Tennyson, had taken over from Johnny Douglas after England had lost the first two Tests against Australia in 1921: although losing the third and therefore the Ashes, he inspired a reconstructed team to produce two spirited performances that prevented Warwick Armstrong’s Australians from taking the series 5-0 once again, with draws at Old Trafford and The Oval. Tennyson welcomed the chance to play a part in the search and development of new players with Test-match potential to face the Australians when they returned to defend the Ashes in 1926, and eagerly joined the selection committee. His experience of playing in all five Tests in South Africa during the MCC tour of 1913/14 would be invaluable. The second selector was Frank Mitchell who also had had plenty of experience playing on the matting wickets used in South Africa, where the ball bounced and turned a little differently from deliveries bowled on English pitches. He had made his debut for Yorkshire in 1894 and been taken by Lord Hawke on a private tour of South Africa in 1888/89. He was a first choice for Yorkshire on his return but went back to South Africa in 1901 to join the Yorkshire Dragoons and fight in the Boer War. After another season with Yorkshire he was hired as secretary by Sir Abe Bailey, the South African tycoon, and played for Transvaal in the Currie Cup. In 1904 he returned to England as captain of a South African touring team playing all the counties and a number of representative sides but no Test matches. He came again to England in 1912 as captain of the South African team in the Triangular Tournament, playing three Test matches against England and three against Australia. He returned again to fight in the Great War and was now settled in England and able to see plenty of domestic cricket and assess potential players suitable for the playing conditions in South Africa. The third selector was Plum Warner who had the experience to blend the opinions and recommendations of his two companions coming from contrasting points of view as well as his own experience leading a team in South Africa in 1905/06, albeit losing the Test series 4-1. It was expected that South Africa would struggle against a strong England team. The previous winter the Australians, on their way home after their visit to England in the summer of 1921, had stopped off in South Africa to play six first-class matches, including three Tests, in a short tour lasting only 39 days and the results gave a clear indication of the level to which the host’s standards had fallen. Transvaal, Natal and Western Province had all been beaten easily. South Africa had been lucky to escape with a draw in the First Test, still 207 runs behind with only three wickets in hand when play ended. Only a stubborn eight-hour century from Charles Frank saved them from defeat in the Second Test and Australia finally confirmed their superiority by winning the Third Test by ten wickets. In the last MCC tour of South Africa, in 1913/14, England had won the Test series 4-1 after sending their strongest side containing only four amateurs, having lost the series 3-2 in the previous tour of 1909/10 with six amateurs in the party. Now the South African cricket authorities asked that the latest touring A New Captain for England